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BX  9225  .029  AT  V. 2 
Campbell,  John  McLeod,  1800h-^ 

1872. 
Memorials  of  John  McLeod 

Campbell 


^i:>^^??#: 


MEMORIALS 


OF 


JOHN    MCLEOD    CAMPBELL,    D.D. 


'.'^y  TF  rrv^ 


M  E  M  O  R  I  A  l/^  — -  ^' 

APR  25  1910 
JOHN  MCLEOD  CAMPBELL,  D.D. 


BEING    SELECTIONS    EROAI    HIS 
CORRESPONDENCE. 


EDITED  BY  HIS  SON, 

The  rev.  DONALD  CAMPBELL,  M.A. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.   II. 

WITH    PORTRAIT    ENGRAVED    BY    C.    H.    JEENS. 


M  A  C  M  I  L  L  A  N     A  N  D     CO 

1877. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOL.    II. 


CHAPTER   X. 

i860— 1S63. 

Publication  of  Essays  and  Rc'vit^ws — Mr.  Campbell  writes  Thoughts  on 
Revelation— l.tiiexi  to  Mr.  Erskine,  Mr.  Duncan,  Mr.  D.  J. 
Vauglian,  Mr.  Maurice,  and  others — New  Views  of  Inspiration — 
Changes  in  Theological  Controversy — Bishop  Colenso's  Writings 
— Spiritualism,      ........  I  — 61 

CHAPTER   XI. 

1864-1866. 

Introductory— Letters,  from  January,  1S64,  to  February,  1S66 — Renan's 
Life  of  yestts — Irving's  views  of  Baptism — Bishop  Butler  and  the 
Supernatural— Visits  to  Polloc — Mr.  Vaughan's  Christian  Evi- 
dences—\ix.  Pusey's  Ei7-cnicon—T\\e  Sabbath  Controversy — Death 
of  Mr.  A.  J.  Scott, 62—126 

CHAPTER  XII. 
1866— 1867. 
Incidents  of  these  years— Letters  to  India— Letters  on  Theological  Sub- 
jects—ii'cr^  //o>no—Na.ture  and  Prayer— Last  Visit  to  London- 
Letters  to  Bishop  Ewing — Huxley's  Lay  .5"tV7;/c);«— Rationalism  and 
Superstition — Readings  in  Philosophy— Banquet  given  to  Dr. 
Macleod, 127— 1S8 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

1868— 1869. 
Degree  of  D.D.  conferred  on  Mr.  Campbell — Marriage  of  his  Daughter 
— Visit  to  England — Letters  to  Mr.  Prichard,  Mr.  Vaughan,  Mr. 
Erskine,  and  others — Jeremy  Taylor  on  Repentance — "Restitution 
of  all  things" — Clergy  and  Laity — Dr.  Wylie's  Jubilee — Visit  to 
St.  Andrews— John  Keble— The  Irish  Church,  .  189—257 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

1870. 

Death  of  Mr.  Erskine — Return  to  the  Gareloch— Letters  of  this  Year — 

Froude's  Short  Studies — M.    Arnold  on  Puritanism— Memories  of 

INIr.    Erskine--His    Writings — Newman's   Graftwia?'  of    Assent — 

Mr.  Voysey's  Case — Final  Restitution,     .         .         .         258 — 296 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1871— 1872. 
Presentation  and  Address  to  Dr.  Campbell — He  begins  to  write 
Reminiscences  and  Reflections — Family  Gathering  at  Achnashie — 
Letters,  January,  1871,  to  P'ebruaiy,  1872 — His  Last  Days — The 
End — Funeral  Sermons — Letters  from  Professor  Lushington  and 
Principal  Shairp,     .......         297 — 346 


MEMORIALS. 


MEMORIALS. 

CHAPTER    X. 
i860— 1863. 

Publication  of  Essays  and  Reviews — Mr.  Campbell  writes  Thoughts  on 
Rei'dation — Letters  to  Mr.  Erskine,  Mr.  Duncan,  Mr.  D.  J. 
Vaughan,  Mr.  Maurice,  and  others — New  Views  of  Inspiration — 
Changes  in  Theological  Controversy — Bishop  Colenso's  Writings — 
Spiritualism. 

Mr.  Campbell,  being  now  relieved  from  the  pressure  of 
ministerial  work,  was  able  to  give  more  attention  than  he 
had  hitherto  done  to  the  difficult  problems  of  modem 
thought.  The  publication  of  Essays  and  Reviews  in  i860, 
and  that  of  Bishop  Colenso's  book  on  the  Pentateuch  two 
years  later,  were  events  which  could  not  fail  to  interest  him 
deeply.  His  own  profound  reverence  for  the  Scriptures 
made  him  shrink  from  what  might  seem  a  too  free  handling 
of  sacred  books. ^     At  the  same  time,  his  single-eyed  love  of 

^With  reference  to  his  manner  of  reading  the  Bible,  Dr.  Macleod 
wrote  as  follows  after  his  death:  "No  prophet  of  old  repeating  to 
others  what  to  himself  was  as  the  audible  voice  of  God  could  have  done 
so  with  more  impressive  tones  than  those  in  which  Dr.  Campbell  read 
the  same  words  from  Scripture.  This  was  very  far  from  being  in  him 
a  mere  matter  of  taste  or  propriety  due  to  what  was  recognized  as 
God's  Word.  His  reverence  was  prompted  by  the  deepest  inward  con- 
viction, the  clearest  inward  vision  of  the  Word  as  God's  Word."  See 
Good  Words  for  May,  1872,  p.  354. 
VOL.  II.  A 

■  ^7 


2  MEMORIALS.  cHAP.  x. 

truth  prevented  him  from  joining  in  any  hasty  outcry 
against  the  results  of  inquiry.  He  refused  to  take  any  lower 
ground,  in  considering  new  opinions,  than  this — Are  they 
true  or  are  they  false?  Thus,  although  the  matters  in 
dispute  were  different  from  those  involved  in  the  con- 
troversies with  which  he  had  been  identified  thirty  years 
before,  he  remained  faithful  to  the  principle  which  he  had 
laid  do\ATi  in  his  Synod  speech — namely,  that  the  important 
question  was  not.  What  does  the  Church  teach  ?  but,  What 
is  true  ? 

He  had  read  the  Essays  and  Reviews  when  they  were 
first  published,  and  many  months  before  they  attracted 
general  attention.  During  the  winter  of  1 860-61  he 
watched,  with  mixed  feelings,  the  controversy  which  was 
carried  on  with  reference  to  that  book;  and  his  letters 
record  what  he  felt  on  the  subject.  In  May,  1861, 
his  friend  Mr.  Duncan  urged  him  to  write  something 
which  should  embody  the  thoughts  which  he  had  been 
expressing  in  conversation  or  by  letter ;  and  the  result  was 
the  publication,  in  the  following  year,  of  Thotights  on 
Revelation.  This  book  was  well  received ;  and  he  heard 
from  many  quarters  that  it  had  been  found  very  helpful, 
and  that  it  was  more  easily  understood  than  his  former 
works.  Dr.  Norman  Macleod,  for  instance,  wrote  to  him: 
"  I  left  a  copy  of  your  noble  book  at  Florence  with  the  Free 
Kirk  minister  there.  What  a  marvellous  advance  you  have 
made  in  diction  !     This  book  is  clear  as  sunshine." 

Mr.  Campbell  watched  with  interest  the  course  of  the 
prosecutions  which  resulted  from  the  Essays  and  Reviews — 
that  of  Dr.  Williams  and  that  of  Mr.  Wilson;  which, 
"though  distinct  cases,  were  in  a  great  measure  conducted 
together."  ^  A  sentence  of  suspension  for  one  year  was 
pronounced  upon  each  of  these  clergymen  by  the  Dean  of 

1  See  "Ecclesiastical  Judgments  of  the  Privy  Council:  edited  by 
Brodrick  &  Fremantle,"  p.  250. 


1860-63.  "  ESSAYS  AND  REVIEWS."  3 

Arches   in   December,   1862;   but   it  was  reversed   by  the 
Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  in  February,  1864. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1862,  Mr.  Campbell  had  a 
dangerous  illness ;  and  for  a  time  there  was  little  hope  of 
his  recovery.  He  had  gone  to  pay  a  short  visit  at  Rosneath 
Castle,  and  he  was  taken  ill  the  night  after  his  arrival.  He 
always  looked  back  on  this  illness  with  very  solemn  feelings, 
and  with  more  gratitude  than  he  could  express  to  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  of-  Argyll,  for  their  unbounded  kindness  to 
him  at  that  time. 

To  his  Eldest  Son  : 

The>i  at  Cambridge, 

Laurel  Bank,  i8th  November,   i860, 

.  .  .  I  am  glad  that  the  cheers  for  Mr.  Maurice  were 
so  hearty;^  and  I  am  glad  that  Mr.  Kingsley  has  been 
welcomed  so  cordially.     .     .     . 

M is  copying  for  you  one  of  my  favourite  hymns ;  ^ 

one  that  I  have  found  often  welling  up  in  me  as  living 
water.  Its  great  value  to  me  is  the  way  in  which  inward 
occupation  with  the  love  of  Christ  is  connected  with 
meeting  the  practical  demand  of  outward  circumstances, 
I  was  on  Friday  some  time  with  George  Galloway's  widow. 
She  told  me  she  often  used  to  overhear  him  at  night 
repeating  psalms  to  himself;  two  very  favourite  ones  being 
the  90th  and  the  gist.  I  used  so  much  to  fear  that  his 
great  intellectual  occupation  with  religion,  in  the  endeavour 
to   construct   for   himself  a  full   and   symmetrical  form  of 

^  Namely,  in  the  Senate  House,  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Kingsley's 
Inaugural  Lecture. 

^  The  hymn  referred  to  is  one  by  Gambold,  beginning  with  the 
words,  "  That  I  am  thine,  my  Lord  and  God."  See  Gambold's  IVorks, 
p.  196,  edition  of  1823, 


4  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

theological  thought,  might  be,  more  or  less,  taking  the 
place  of  religious  life  in  him,  that  I  the  more  value  any 
indication  of  a  purely  practical  living  in  the  consciousness 
of  his  own  relation  to  God.  But,  indeed,  I  believe  that 
much  of  what  might  be  taken  (mistaken)  for  mere  speculative 
thought,  was  the  effect  of  jealousy  for  the  name  of  God ; 
the  jealousy  of  one  to  whom  that  name  was  everything:  as 
indeed  that  name  is  everything  to  each  of  us  in  proportion 
as  we  awaken  to  the  truth  of  things ;  both  because  "power 
belongeth  to  God  alone,"  and,  still  more,  "  because  to 
Him  also  belongeth  mercy."  For  whatever  importance  the 
former  thought  impart  to  the  Divine  name,  the  latter  thought 
is  its  attraction,  and  what  alone  makes  the  realization  of  the 
former  what  we  can  peacefully — not  to  say  joyfully — 
engage  in.     .     .     . 

PoLLOC,  22nd  November,  i860. 

It  is  rather  late  for  this  work  ;  but  we  are  so  much  later  in 
the  morning  here  that  I  may  pass  a  little  time  with  you  before 
going  to  bed ;  though  it  has  struck  eleven.  ...  I  am 
here  chiefly  to  meet  the  Bishop  of  Argyll,  who  has  given  me 
his  charge,  now  published,  and,  quite  frankly,  said  I  would 
find  in  it  what  I  had  myself  said  to  him  on  the  subject  of 
the  Eucharist.  I  can  have  no  feeUng  but  of  thankfulness 
that  what  I  said  has  so  commended  itself  to  him,  and  is  in 
the  way  of  coming  through  him  in  contact  with  many  minds  ; 
and  though  briefly  stated  it  is  quite  clear  enough  to  be  sug- 
gestive. 

I  meet  here  also  one  whom  I  met  often  long  ago,  and  who 
has  been  keeping  up  her  acquaintance  %vith  me  by  reading 
everything  of  mine  she  could  get ;  and  from  her  I  have  been 
hearing  encouraging  things  as  to  my  preaching  in  Edinburgh 
long  ago.  She  is  the  wife  of  Lord  Cunningham,  one  of  the 
Lords  of  Session.  I  remember  her  well  at  our  meetings  in 
'30  and  '31.     .     .     . 


1860-63.      KINGSLEY'S  INAUGURAL  LECTURE.        5 

Robert  Story  has  asked  me  to  come  to  meet  Mrs.  Oliphant 
at  Rosneath  in  December/  and  I  have  agreed,  if  before  the 
15th.  ...  I  was  glad  to  receive  the  paper  with  the 
report  of  Kingsley's  Inaugural  Lecture.  In  a  general  view  I 
do  sympathize  with  him,  feeling  strongly  the  difference  be- 
tween the  fixedness  of  physical  laws,  and  consequent  cer- 
tainty with  which  their  working  may  be  calculated  upon,  and 
the  uncalculable  element  introduced  when  the  will  of  man  is 
introduced.  One  thing  he  is  reported  to  have  said  seems  to 
me  more  specious  than  sound.  I  mean  his  arguing  from  the 
difficulty  of  knowing  and  entering  into  the  mind  of  Luther, 
to  conclusions  as  to  entering  into  the  Divine  mind.  Were 
there  force  in  the  argument  at  all  it  would  throw  us  to  an 
infinite  distance  from  any  entrance  into  the  Divine  mind ; 
but,  to  take  no  other  objection,  it  seems  enough  to  say — 
Luther  is  not  reveahng  himself  to  our  spirits  as  God  is ;  and 
the  question  is,  not  how  far  can  we  get  in  the  effoft  to  know 
God,  but  how  far  can  God  come  in  making  Himself  known. 
I  think  you  will  see  this  to  be  a  fruitful  distinction.     .     .     . 

We  were  glad  for  what  we  saw  of  Dr.  Scott,  though  less 
than  we  wished.  I  came  out  here  with  him  to  call  last 
Tuesday.  He  was  much  saddened  by  the  blank  which  Lady 
Matilda's  removal  has  made,  and  by  seeing  Sir  John  so 
changed.     .     .     . 

I  must  stop.     It  is  "  on  the  chap  o'  twalve." 


To  Mr.  Ejrskine. 

Partick,  26th  November,  i860. 

.  .  .  I  find  your  Introductory  Essay  to  letters  by  a 
Lady  suggesting  what  I  had  felt  the  notes  of  my  own  teach- 
ing of  the  same  date  suggesting, — a  fear  that  injustice  had 

^  Mrs.  Oliphant  was  at  this  time  collecting  materials  for  her  life  of 
Edward  Irving. 


6  MEMORIALS.  CHAP.  x. 

been  done  to  states  of  mind  which,  though  they  would  not 
stand  a  logical  test,  might  have  stood  a  spiritual  test.  How 
difficult  it  is  always  to  distinguish  between  our  commending 
ourselves  to  the  conscience,  and  our  commending  ourselves 
to  the  intellect.  Also,  "  the  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them 
that  fear  Him."  Doubtless  "  doing  the  will  of  God  "  in  the 
true  and  deepest  sense  of  these  words  is  that  which  fits  for 
"  knowing  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God."  May  we  so 
do  that  will  which  is  love  as  to  be  increasingly  capable  of 
entering  into  the  counsels  which  are  love. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  roth  December,  i860. 

.  .  .  Since  finishing  Davies  I  have  read  Young's  Criti- 
cism of  Mansel's  book,  which  I  brought  up,  you  may  remem- 
ber, from  Rosneath.  On  the  whole  I  think  it  a  valuable 
contribution  to  the  aids  to  right  thinking  on  this  important 
subject,  and  please  mention  it  to  Mr.  Macmillan  as  what  I 
think  fitted  to  strengthen  Mr.  Maurice's  hands.  "The 
Province  of  Reason,  a  Criticism  on  the  Bampton  Lec- 
tures on  the  Limits  of  Religious  Thought :  by  John  Young, 
LL.D." 

Norman  M'Leod  is  feeling  Dr.  Robertson's  deaths  very 
much.  I  feel  it  myself,  having  felt  that  there  was  that  truth- 
fulness in  his  advocacy  of  Church  extension  which  God 
would  acknowledge.  I  believe  also  it  was  "  a  work  of  faith 
and  labour  of  love  "  as  well,  and  so  gone  on  with  in  "  patience 
of  hope."  I  do  not  remember  whether  you  heard  his  speech 
on  the  Education  question,  which  I  heard  with  so  much 
pleasure. 

^  Dr.  James  Robertson,  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Edinburgh  Univer- 
sity, whose  name  was  identified  with  the  Endowment  Scheme. 


1860-63.    PROFESSOR  JAMES  ROBERTSON.  7 

To  Miss  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  4th  January,  i86r. 

[After  speaking  of  the  extremely  cold  weather  :]  I  have 
no  doubt  you  are  having  many  demands  on  your  sympathy, 
where  suffering  from  privations  is  added  to  disease ;  and 
tender  nursing  care  may  also  be  absent.  We  are  to  be 
thankful  for  all  mitigating  circumstances,  while  sympathizing 
in  what  is  endured ;  remembering,  also,  that  the  delicate 
nursing  which  mitigates  the  trial  of  sickness,  also  increases 
the  nervous  sensitiveness.  How  past  our  finding  out  are 
the  ways  of  that  wise  love  which  sends  suffering,  and  renews 
it,  and  continues  it  through  years  !  We  are  apt,  if  spared 
ourselves,  to  wonder  how  others,  whom  we  may  think  less 
to  need  chastening,  are  chastened  so  sorely :  a  thought  that 

often  presents  itself  when  I  remember  M G .     But 

physical  suffering  is  not  the  only  form  of  discipline ;  and 
if  we  keep  steadily  before  us  the  ideal  of  our  God  for  us, 
and,  in  the  light  of  that  ideal,  see  our  shortcoming,  we  are 
likely  to  see  that  we  are  not  neglected  as  to  chastening,  but 
really  have  it  in  the  form  suited  to  our  need.  Even  while 
alive  to  see  this,  and  giving  thanks  that  we  are  so  remem- 
bered, how  slow  our  progress  !  how  infinite  the  long-suffering 
which  we  are  proving. 

To  Mr.  Erskine. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  12th  Januaiy,  1861. 

I  believe  the  difficulty  felt  in  receiving  a 
statement  on  the  subject  of  the  Eucharist  such  as  is  now 
questioned,  is  to  be  traced  altogether  to  the  view  held  on  the 
nature  of  the  atonement.  It  is  the  essential  presence  in  all 
our  worship  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  which  is  not  understood, 
because  that  sacrifice  itself  is  not  understood. 


8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

Since  I  wrote  you,  I  have  re-read  Mr.  Jowett's  essay  on 
''  the  Interpretation  of  Scripture  "  :  ^  and  with  an  increased 
feehng  of  respect  and  of  tenderness  for  him.  How  far  an 
acquaintance  with  what  he  calls  "  Historical  Criticism" 
(which  I  have  not)  would  awaken  in  myself  \k\'&.'Ckind  of  need 
of  largeness  and  liberty  which  he  feels,  I  cannot  be  sure  : 
and  I  know  that,  while  a  theory  which  prepares  the  mind  to 
find  one  sacred  writer  differing  from  another,  must  expose  to 
the  risk  of  hastily  finding  such  differences  where  they  may 
not  exist,  and  where,  waiting  for  more  light,  they  would  have 
come  to  be  seen  not  to  exist  (my  own  experience  as  to 
many  passages  usually  founded  on  in  the  discussions  about 
Election),  it  is  also  undeniable  that  the  assumption  of  the 
impossibility  of  discrepancy  is  likely  to  tempt  to  strained 
efforts  at  harmonizing.  But  I  seem  to  feel  all  the  largeness 
that  I  need  in  the  faith  of  divine  teaching ;  I  mean  the  faith 
that  I  am  called  to  be  myself  taught  of  God.  This  faith 
gives  me  what  I  feel  to  be  a  healthy  freedom  in  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures,  in  that  waiting  for  more  light  to  which  I 
have  just  referred;  for  example,  assuming  that  I  do  not 
understand  the  ninth  of  Romans,  instead  of  giving  it  up  to 
Calvinists,  and  preserving  the  harmony  of  my  own  thoughts 
by  assuming  that  the  Apostle  was  in  error. 

When  I  formerly  read  Mr.  Jowett's  essay,  I  thought  the 
demand  that  we  should  learn  from  the  study  of  the  Bible 
what  inspiration  is,  and  not  go  to  the  Bible  with  a  theory  as 
to  what  inspiration  must  be,  quite  reasonable.  But  I  now 
see  that  the  thing  meant  is,  that  we  should  consider  what 
price  we  shall  put  on  the  Bible  after  subjecting  it  to  canons 
of  historical  criticism,  and  not  that  we  should  ascertain 
what  the  Bible  may  itself  claim  to  be.  Surely  the  Bible 
addresses  itself  to  something  else  than  our  capacity  of  his- 
torical criticism,  and  our  recognition  of  God  speaking  in  it 
must  be  on  ground  altogether  other  than  this  j  and  this  Mr. 
^  In  Essavs  and  Rrjie-ws. 


1860-63.  MR.  yOWETT'S  ESSAY.  9 

Jowett  would  in  some  sense  admit.  But  what  seems  to  me 
ultimately  in  question  is,  the  reasonableness  of  the  faith  of 
any  direct  authoritative  utterance  of  a  personal  character  on 
the  part  of  God,  either  outward  through  man  to  man,  or 
inward  to  the  individual ;  and  what  Ave  call  the  voice  of  God 
in  conscience,  is  being  subjected  to  a  lowering  among  human 
consciousnesses  corresponding  to  the  lowering  of  the  Bible 
among  books.  As  the  Greeks  are  regarded  as  having  pro- 
gressed (in  the  persons  of  their  great  thinkers)  from  the 
faith  of  personal  Gods  to  the  recognition  of  laws  of  nature, 
so  are  we  assumed  to  be  now  having  a  similar  advancement 
in  the  persons  of  what  are  assumed  to  be  our  deepest 
thinkers ;  with  the  difference  that  in  their  case  it  was  a 
change  of  conception  in  relation  to  the  natural  world, — in 
our  case  a  change  of  conception  in  relation  to  the  moral  and 
spiritual  world ;  attributes  of  God,  as  moral  and  spiritual 
laws,  being  substituted  for  a  personal  God.  No  doubt  the 
attributes  are  in  the  highest  sense  laws,  the  laws  of  the 
Divine  nature ;  and  the  faith  of  them  as  sure  and  abiding, 
is  an  essential  element  in  our  faith  in  God.  But  our  faith  is 
in  2i  person.  "  They  that  know  Thy  name,  will  put  their  trust 
in  T/iee." 

This  essay  has  still  interested  me  much  in  the  writer, 
because  of  the  honest  desire  to  contribute  what  seems 
to  him  help  to  truth-seekers ;  and  it  contains  many  needed 
cautions  in  reference  to  the  danger  of  finding  in  the 
Bible  just  what  we  take  to  the  reading  of  it.  But  the 
difficulty  is  in  the  practical  application  of  such  cautions, 
and  we  may  take  to  our  reading  other  beside  theological 
prepossessions. 

It  would  be  a  comfort  to  receive  the  assurance  of  a  more 
complete  convalescence  than  you  have  been  able  to  tell  us 
of.  We  are  thankful  that  Mrs.  Stirling  is  pretty  well. 
She  will  not  easily  attend  much  to  herself  when  you  are 
ill.  .    .    . 


ro  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  9th  February,  1861. 

Mental  ordeals  try  some,  as  moral  ordeals  others  :  and 
though  lawlessness  is  the  great  source  of  danger  always, 
those  who  have  never  been  exposed  to  temptation,  in  which- 
ever form,  cannot  easily  allow,  as  much  as  may  be  just,  for 
the  place  which  better  feelings  have  in  the  history  of  results 
that,  on  the  whole,  we  must  regret. 

I  feel  in  myself  a  tenderness  towards  conditions  of  mental 
perplexity  on  the  subject  of  truth,  which,  had  I  not  looked 
at  them  so  nearly,  I  could  not  have  felt :  for  I  have  come  to 
recognize  the  pressure  of  difficulties  honestly  felt,  where,  at 
first,  I  feared  there  was  but  captiousness,  or  impatience  of 
authority.  My  first  desire,  therefore,  in  every  case  is  to 
endeavour  as  much  as  possible  to  place  myself  at  the  stand- 
point of  those  who  see  differently  from  myself.  Thus  may  I 
hope  to  be  saved  from  doing  them  injustice.  Thus  also  may 
I  sometimes  have  the  great  privilege  of  helping  them. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  3rd  March,  1861. 
.  .  .  Of  course  the  movement,  or  rather  commotion, 
produced  by  the  Essays  and  Reviews  has  reached  to 
Cambridge.  Indeed  I  see  some  letters  in  the  Times  from 
Cambridge.  It  seems  a  great  fire  kindled  by  small  sparks  ; 
and  it,  indeed,  like  a  fire  so  kindled,  smouldered  slowly  for 
twelve  months.  But  it  had  burnt  forth  in  great  strength  at 
last :  quite  a  conflagration.  I  am  thankful,  very  thankful, 
for  a  few  words  from  Mr.  Maurice,  in  his  notice  of  Bunsen's 
death  in  the  present  Macmillan,  on  reading  the  Bible  as  the 
Word  of  God,  in  opposition  to  reading  it  as  one  reads  any 
other  book.  I  forget  whether  I  showed  you  my  letter  ^  to 
^  Of  1 2th  January,  given  above. 


1860-63.  THE  NINTH  OF  ROMANS.  n 

Mr.  Erskine  in  reference  to  Jowett's  essay,  before  sending  it 
away.  I  have  myself  found  the  difference  of  result  from 
reading  the  Scriptures  with  an  undoubted  trust  that  what  is 
taught  is  truth, — though  that  truth  may  in  many  passages  be 
obscure  to  me,  or  even  not  yet  seen  even  obscurely, — as 
compared  with  a  preparedness  to  find  the  sacred  writer  only 
partially  enlightened,  and  in  many  points  labouring  under 
the  disadvantage  of  a  stand-point  so  much  lower  than  our 
own,  that  we  may  be  authorized  to  look  down  and  say, 
"  There  he  errs  as  he  would  not  now."  I  have,  I  say,  found 
the  difference  of  result  so  great  that  I  am  most  thankful  to 
have  been  guided  as  I  have  been.  I  never,  as  I  think  you 
know,  would  have  understood  what  is  really  taught  on  the 
subject  of  Election,  if  I  had  assumed  the  first  impression  of 
the  Apostles'  meaning  to  be,  a  true  one,  and  the  Apostles  to 
have  been  in  error,  and  so  had  retained  liberty  to  believe,  in 
opposition  to  their  teaching,  what  I  saw  having  internal  evi- 
dence of  truth.  But  by  waiting  for  more  light,  and  suspend- 
ing my  decision  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  stumbling  passages 
until  such  light  might  be  received,  I  have  come  to  see 
clearly  that  what  was  stumbling  was  not  really  taught,  but 
something  quite  different.  This  process  is  indeed  still  in- 
complete, for  the  hardest  knot  of  all  is  still  to  unloose,  the 
ninth  of  Romans.  But  I  do  not  doubt  that  if  the  Apostle's 
words  ever  come  to  convey  to  my  mind  just  what  he  in- 
tended, they  will  be  then  conveying  what  I  shall  be  able  to 
receive,  and  shall  see  to  be  in  harmony  with  those  of  his 
words  which  I  now  feel  that  I  understand.     I  must  stop. 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  27th  March,  1861. 
My  dear  Friend, — I  believe  I  ought  to  write  to  you 
more    frequently,    as    letters   bridge   over — or   rather,    are 
good  stepping-stones  in — the  space  between  our  meetings. 


12  MEMORIALS. 


CHAP.  X. 


I  am  thankful  that  dearest  Miss  Duncan  has  this  promise  of 
pleasant  healthful  interest  in  this  school.  It  is  a  great  mercy 
to  us  to  make  us  channels  of  good  to  others,  whatever  the 
good  may  be ;  but  what  a  school  aims  at  stands  very  high,  if 
not  indeed  highest  in  the  scale ;  that  is,  when  the  abiding 
results  in  the  spiritual  world  are  looked  to  as  the  real  end  in 
view.  As  to  myself  I  would  often  feel  very  low,  were  I  not 
having  some  hope  that  the  interest  which  I  feel  in  the  hal- 
lowing of  the  Father's  name,  and  the  coming  of  His  king- 
dom, and  the  doing  of  His  will,  is  not  without  fruit  even 
when  its  outlet  is  most  exclusively  upwards  in  prayer.  But 
sometimes  what  I  see  and  feel  is  uttered  in  conversation  with 
those  to  whom  it  may  be  a  word  in  season  :  and  sometimes, 
though  rarely,  in  drawing  forth  a  friend's  sympathy  by  a 
letter. 

I  have  not  seen  Robertson's  volume  on  the  Epistles  to  the 
Corinthians,  but  intend  to  take  the  first  opportunity  of  doing 
so.  I  can  quite  understand  that  he  is  more  in  light  in  his 
own  region  than  Maurice  in  his.  Robertson  draws  more 
upon  humanity, — what  is  known  to  a  man  by  the  spirit  of  a 
man  which  is  in  him.  Maurice  seeks  more  to  rise  into  the 
divine  light, — a  region  in  which  the  coherence  of  a  theology 
is  apt  to  be  mistaken  for  spiritual  insight.  Yet  I  always  re- 
gard my  own  misgivings  as  to  him  with  distrust,  when  I  feel 
that  (as  you  say)  his  confidence  seems  to  me  beyond  his 
vision,  being  certainly  beyond  what  he  enables  me  to  see  : 
and  so  I  try  to  wait,  as  I  may  yet  see. 

It  is  since  we  were  together  that  these  Essays  atid Ranews 
have  caused  such  a  commotion.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  con- 
versation about  them  with  dear  Mr.  Erskine  when  in  Edin- 
burgh (the  week  before  last),  and  was  very  thankful  for  the 
sympathy  which  I  met  in  him.  Since  my  return  home  I 
have  had  a  visit  from  my  young  friend  E.  Caird,  who  is  down 
for  the  Easter  vacation  ;  and  understand  better  than  I  did 
from  anything  I  had  read  (either  in  Jowett's  essay  on  inter- 


1860-63.        NEW  VIEWS  OF  INSPIRATION.  13 

pretation,  or  his  volumes  on  the  writings  of  the  Apostle 
Paul)  what  the  real  point  of  departure  is  on  the  subject  of 
inspiration.  The  ultimate  question  seems  to  be,  "  Does  God 
communicate  directly  with  man  otherwise  than  by  the  light 
of  eternal  truth  in  conscience?"  I  have  long  seen  the 
tendency  of  much  realization  of  the  high  place  and  ultimate 
nature,  in  relation  to  spiritual  development,  of  the  condition 
of  spirit  expressed  by  the  words,  "  In  Thy  light  we  shall  see 
light,"  to  cause  a  depreciation  of  any  lower  supposed  partici- 
pation in  the  knowledge  that  God  has  of  His  own  counsels, 
and  their  historical  development,  which  prophecy  (if,  as  we 
believe,  such  there  be),  presents  to  us.  And  the  natural 
sequel  to  such  depreciation  is  doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  any- 
thing lower.  Yet  the  Bible  in  its  history  as  given  and  as 
received,  has  seemed  to  me  to  present  the  fact  of  such  lower 
knowledge ;  and  that  as  a  step  towards  that  which  is  higher. 
This  the  new  theory  of  inspiration  denies  :  the  words,  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord,"  or  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me 
saying,"  in  the  mouth  of  an  Old  Testament  prophet,  being 
held  to  be  simply  the  expression,  according  to  the  manner 
of  speech  of  their  time,  of  the  same  consciousness  which  we 
express  by  saying,  "  I  see  clearly  in  the  light  of  truth."  .  .  . 

To  Mrs.  Campbell. 

[Edinburgh,  April,  1861.] 

.  .  .  I  was  dining  at  Mr.  James  M'Kenzie's  with  Mr. 
Erskine  and  Dr.  Hanna.^  We  were  just  four  of  a  party,  and 
I  have  seldom  enjoyed  an  evening  more.  Dr.  Hanna 
seemed  very  glad  to  make  my  acquaintance ;  and  when  he 
was  parting  with  us,  he  thanked  Mr.  Erskine  for  having 
given  him  the  opportunity  of  meeting  me.  (Mr.  Erskine 
had  invited  us  both  to  Mr.  M'Kenzie's.)     Dr.  H.  said  to 

1  The  son-in-law  and  biographer  of  Dr.  Chalmers. 


14  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

me  "he  had  to  thank  me  for  the  pleasure  and  profit  he  had 
derived  from  my  book."  He  added,  "  he  did  not  know  that 
I  had  entered  so  much  into  the  profounder  thought  on  thes« 
subjects."  I  like  him  very  much.  He  is  the  freest  and 
most  serious  at  the  same  time  of  all  the  Scotch  ministers  I 
have  met.     .     .     . 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  nth  May,  1861. 

I  have  just  read  Hughes'  Religio  Laid}  I  like  his  tone 
of  conviction;  and  though  his  faith  in  Christ  does  not 
appear  to  me  full-orbed,  yet  I  know  to  touch  the  hem  of 
His  garment  in  faith  is  sure  to  draw  a  blessing  from  Him. 
The  traces  of  Mr.  Hansel's  teaching  extend  to  cast  of 
thought,  and  manner  of  commending  what  he  believes,  as 
well  as  to  the  substance  of  his  faith.  I  still  feel  that  I 
desiderate  more  tenderness  for  the  generation  of  thinkers 
passing  away ;  though  it  is  difficult  to  combine  such  tender- 
ness with  much  sympathy  with  the  party  of  progress.  Per- 
haps my  stand-point  is  more  in  the  past  than  his  could  be 
with  his  history.  We  had  a  sermon  last  Sunday  from  Dr. 
Robert  Lee  that  was  a  greater  approximation  to  the  tone  of 
the  Essays  aiid  Reviews  than  I  was  prepared  for  even  in 
him.  I  remember  saying  to  Stanley  in  reference  to  Jowett's 
large  work,  that  I  felt  it  wanting  in  the  recognition  of  the 
abiding  eternal  element  in  Paul's  religion;  and  in  proportion 
as  more  weight  is  attached  to  a  man's  antecedents,  and  less 
is  referred  to  what  the  grace  of  God  has  made  him,  this  is 
likely  to  be  the  case.  I  am  urged  by  dear  Mr.  Duncan  to 
write  something  of  what  I  feel  in  regard  to  these  Essays  and 
Reviews.  I  cannot  attempt  a  book,  and  a  pamphlet  seems 
scarcely  worthy  of  the  questions  involved.  But  I  am  going 
to  write  at  all  events,  and  judge  afterwards  whether  to  print. 
1  One  of  the  "Tracts  for  Priests  and  People." 


1860-63.  DR.  TEMPLE'S  SERMONS.  15 

27th  May,  1861. 

I  have  had  a  pleasant  week  at  Helensburgh,  and  kept 
each  day  from  10  to  i  for  myself,  making  in  these  forenoons 
a  commencement  on  the  subject  of  the  Essays  and  Reviews, 
leaving  the  question  of  publishing  to  be  afterwards  decided. 

I  have  been  reading  Dr.  Temple's  Sermons  with  great 
interest.  I  trust  they  will  separate  in  men's  thoughts 
between  him  and  all  that  has  been  objected  to  in  that 
volume ;  as  indeed  I  think  his  own  essay  might  have  done, 
though  open,  I  think,  to  special  objection  itself:  but  not  the 
same ;  and  indeed  what  the  volume  of  Sermons  would  never 
have  suggested,  though  I  cannot  say  that  they  contradict  it 
This  volume  is  valuable  in  itself;  and  its  being  given  to  the 
public  is  at  least  one  good  that  has  arisen  from  a  publication 
which  still  I  must  regret. 

31  St  May. 
I  have  just  read  Mr.  Maurice's  tract  on  the  Essays  and 
Ranews.  It  is  very  able  and  very  manly,  and  full  of  season- 
able teaching;  and  may,  I  trust,  do  much  good.  I  trust 
this  stirring  and  searching  of  men's  minds  may  have  been 
profitable  to  many.  Mr.  Maurice  has,  I  see,  dwelt  most  in 
reference  to  Mr.  Jowett  on  that  compromise  with  the 
morality  and  religion  of  the  day,  which  had  been  so  marked 
to  me  in  Mr.  Jowett's  large  work  on  the  Epistles  of  Paul; 
where  he  asks,  "Who  now  could  say,  I  am  crucified  with 
Christ  ? "  as  if  we  were  to  rest  contented  in  the  con5;cious- 
ness  of  inability  honestly  to  use  these  words. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

TiGHNABRUAiGH,  Kyles  OF  BcTE,  30th  June,  l85l. 

I  now  on  Sunday  evening,  on  this  high  terrace  over- 
hanging the  sea,  which  gleams  blue  through  the  leafy 
branches  of  some  fine  oak  trees, — Bute  opposite,  across  the 


1 6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

narrow  Kyle,  at  this  end  rugged  and  rocky  with  green 
patches  of  fern;  and  through  the  end  window  the  sweep  of 
our  own  Cowal  shore,  part  in  shade  and  part  in  sunshine ;  a 
glorious  sky  overhead,  to  which  we  seem  half-way  up, — will 
say  to  yourself  what  I  have  just  been  saying  to  your  mother, 
that  we  long  to  have  you  here. 

I  trust  our  daily  prayer  for  you  both  may  have  been 
helpful  to  you.  God  gives  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy;  and 
there  is  a  danger,  in  our  anxiety  to  be  right  in  regard  to 
everything,  that  we  may  be  straitened  as  to  the  free  enjoy- 
ment which  really  is  a  part  of  our  right  response  to  God's 
goodness  in  His  gifts.  But  if  we  are  simply  seeking  to 
please  God,  and  to  cherish  a  peaceful  reference  to  His  judg- 
ment of  us,  while  freely  using  what  He  freely  bestows,  we 
shall  walk  at  liberty.     .     .     . 

It  is  within  a  few  months  oi  fifty  years  since  I  was  some 
nights  in  the  manse  of  this  parish,  with  my  beloved  father 
and  brother,  on  my  way  to  college — my  first  session. 

That  college  session,  and  all  that  followed  it,  was  but  part 
of  a  course  of  education,  begun  long  before  and  going  on 
still,  by  which  my  Heavenly  Father  has  been  seeking  to 
train  me  for  that  unknown  future  which  succeeds  this 
present.  How  often  might  He  have  said  to  me  in  all  this 
time,  as  our  Lord  to  Peter,  "  What  I  do  thou  knowest  not 
now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter."  In  many  cases  an 
"hereafter"  which  has  since  come  has  explained  things 
which  were  mysterious  when  they  occurred ;  but  as  a  whole, 
the  past  and  the  present  wait  a  future  in  which,  as  Gambold 
says,  the  past  will  come  back  in  light,  because  "  in  its  bright 
result."  But,  however  interesting,  and  often  full  of  a  needed 
comfort,  are  large  thoughts  and  general  aspects  of  our 
course,  the  essential  thing  is  the  "daily  bread"  which  we 
feed  upon  in  discerning  and  obeying  our  Father's  will  step 
by  step,  as  we  go  on,  whatever  the  outward  thing  be  in 
regard  to  which  we  have  to  please  God. 


1860-63.  MR.  JOWETT.  17 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Glenfalloch,  near  Inverarnan,  231-d  September,  1861. 

I  have  not  been  getting  on  so  well  as  I 
could  desire  in  some  respects ;  ^  but  I  trust  there  may  be 
some  help  for  a  right  mind  in  relation  to  Revelation  in  what 
I  am  writing.  I  have  decided  to  omit  altogether  what 
occupied  the  first  twelve  pages,  which  includes  all  that  I  had 
said  as  to  Bibliolatry;  and  I  have  substituted  for  these 
twelve  pages  a  more  direct  openingof  the  path  to //;<?  subject, 
viz.,  the  self-evidencing  light  of  Revelation.  I  do  not  doubt 
that  if  I  teach  any  one  the  true  excellence  of  Revelation,  I 
shall  in  doing  so  have  sufficiently  exposed  that  wrong 
estimate  which  underlies  Bibliolatry. 

I  am  glad  to  have  seen  something  of  Mr.  Jowett,  though 
I  felt  that  a  little  more  time  together  would  have  been  desir- 
able. He  is  a  direct  straightforward  man,  and  speaks  as  one 
who  has  no  back-thought.  I  felt  the  difference  between  him 
and  able  Romanists  whom  I  have  met  to  be  in  this  respect 
very  great.  Although  I  could  not  harmonize  his  value  for 
the  Scriptures  with  the  conception  of  their  history  which  is 
implied  in  his  essay,  I  was  thankful  to  find  that  they  are  so 
much  to  him  as  I  find  they  are.  At  the  same  time  my  con- 
viction of  the  serious  character  of  what  I  believe  to  be  error 
in  his  theory  is  not  affected  by  this. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  3rd  April,  1862. 

The  closing  portion  of  my  MS.  is  now  on  its  way  to  the 
printer,  and  I  give  you  my  first  writing  after  coming  from 
under  the  pressure  of  this  "  burden  of  the  Lord,"  for  such  it 
has  truly  been  to  me. 

After  writing  with  so  much  prayer  and  so  much  patient  per- 
'^i.e.,  with  his  book,  Thoughts  on  Revelation. 
VOL.  II.  B 


1 8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

severance,  I  may  say,  inasmuch  as  I  never  shrank  from  the 
labour  of  rewriting  when  another  way  of  expressing  myself 
seemed  to  have  any  shade  of  advantage,  it  would  be  wrong  not 
to  be  peaceful,  leaving  the  issue  in  His  hands  who  alone  giveth 
the  increase,  or  to  be  unduly  moved  if,  as  may  well  happen, 
what  has  appeared  to  myself  the  best  line  of  argument  or 
wisest  way  of  dealing  should  fail  to  commend  itself  to  others 
who  may  judge  in  an  off-hand  way,  and  not  under  the  load 
of  responsibility  under  which  I  have  written. 

As  compared  with  my  former  book  this  little  volume  has 
the  advantage  as  to  acceptability,  that  I  have  not  been  led 
to  occupy  any  ground  on  which  there  was  any  kind  of  colli- 
sion with  the  received  forms  of  thought  of  religious  men. 
At  the  same  time  my  faith  as  to  the  nature  of  the  atonement 
and  of  salvation  has  necessarily  given  its  tone  to  all  I  have 
written. 

I  think  this  little  volume  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  my 
Row  teaching  on  "Assurance  of  Faith  "  in  which  my  former 
volume  stands  to  my  Row  teaching  on  the  subject  of  "  the 
Universality  of  the  Atonement." 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

9th  April,  1862. 

You  cannot  conceive  how  strange  a  feeling  it  is  to  have  no 
longer  the  demand  on  me  which  was  so  constant  for  the  last 
eleven  months.  You  know  the  writing  was  ever  with  me, 
whatever  I  was  engaged  in.  I  slept  with  it,  and  I  woke  with 
it — an  inner  thought;  the  immediate  bit  in  process  of 
elaboration  occupying  me  intensely,  and  now  it  is  perfect 
stillness,  nothing  to  consider,  or  arrange,  or  recast.  I  feel 
much  as  a  bow  unstrung,  or  mute  untouched  instrument  ! 
Or  as  one  whose  watchful  care  for  some  dear  one  needing 
care  has  ceased  entirely  by  their  departure. 


1860-63.  CASE  OF  DR.   WILLIAMS.  19 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Helensburgh,  iSth  April,  1S62. 

I  called  to  see  old  Dr.  M'Leod  yesterday  before  leaving 
Glasgow,  and  found  him  full  of  R.  Story's  book.  It  is  recal- 
ling attention  to  my  Row  history  in  a  way  that  I  trust  may 
induce  in  many  a  reconsidering  of  the  questions  then  raised  ; 
although  the  progress  of  what  is  called  "  liberal  thought " 
may  secure  a  kind  of  toleration  which  will  not  imply  any  real 
apprehending  of  the  sin  of  man  or  the  free  grace  of  God. 

This  is  Good  Friday.  I  always  feel  drawn  to  lift  up  my 
heart  for  all  to  whom  it  is  a  specially  holy  day,  that  they  may 
find  it  the  occasion  of  increased  faith  in  the  love  which  tasted 
death  for  them. 

Laurel  Bank,  21st  April,  1862. 

.  I  have  read  Stephen's  defence  of  Williams.  It 
is  very  able,  and  certainly  successful  so  far  as  bringing  out 
the  latitude  permitted  in  the  Anglican  Church.  The  contrast 
with  the  Westminster  Confession  is  fitted  to  be  an  effective 
diversion;  but  I  think  overdone,  in  that  at  least  it  does  injus- 
tice to  Calvin,  the  quotation  from  whom  rather  is  a  testi- 
mony to  the  self-evidencing  light  of  Revelation,  than,  as 
Stephen  says,  an  assertion  that  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  is 
an  axiom.  The  ideas  are  quite  distinct.  Many  points, 
indeed,  are  over-stretched.  And  as  to  Williams,  if  his  faith 
on  the  subject  of  prophecy  be  what  Stephen  represents  it, 
he  has  done  himself  great  injustice  in  writing  as  he  has  done, 
for  no  one  would  have  seen  it  in  his  essay. 

To  Mrs.  Campbell. 

Babberton,  near  Edinburgh,  30th  April,  1862. 

Yesterday  was  a  very  good  day  with  us. 
We  accomplished  a  great  deal — thirteen  calls  ;  but  only  five 
of  them  were  really  visits,  as  in  all  the  other  eight  cases  the 


20  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

people  were  out.  The  first  of  the  five  was  Mr.  Erskine, 
with  whom  I  had  an  hour's  talk,  about  my  book ;  M.  listen- 
ing partly  in  light,  partly  in  mist.  He  seems  very  much 
pleased  so  far  as  he  had  got,  which  was  nearly  through  the 
first  part.  He  thinks  that  not  only  are  the  thoughts  good, 
but  he  thinks  more  effectively  expressed  than  anything  I  had 
ever  before  written,  M.  understood  this  clearly  enough,  and 
was  delighted  to  hear  it.  .  .  Among  our  disappointments 
was,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  Lord  Kinloch ;  and  what  is  worse,  he 
is  at  the  Bridge  of  Allan,  and  will  not  be  back  for  ten  days. 
I  enjoyed  the  evening  quietly  here  with  Mrs.  Graham's 
conversation,  and  the  young  ladies'  music.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Erskine  thought  me  in  rude  health,  and  remarked  espe- 
cially the  look  of  strength  in  my  eyes.  This  to  comfort 
my  own  love,  who,  I  fear,  will  get  little  sympathy  from  them 
all  in  her  fears  that  I  would  be  the  worse  of  my  book.  Yet 
they  know  not  how  good  it  has  been  for  me  to  have  had  my 
love  as  a  check  on  my  working.  .  .  .  Dear  Mr.  Erskine 
is  mentally  very  vigorous,  but  lame,  and  going  out  only  in  a 
carriage.  He  was  urging  on  me  yesterday  some  thoughts 
which  many  years  ago  I,  in  a  form  a  little  different,  tried  to 
get  him  to  see.  But  even  when  the  substance  of  what  he 
says  is  true  and  important,  his  mode  of  expressing  is  most 
startling,  and  to  many  will  be  repulsive  ;  or,  if  they  accept 
what  he  says  crudely,  will  be  misleading.  How  all  things 
get  exaggerated  in  us  as  we  get  older ! 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  4th  May,  1862.     Ps.  xc.^ 

.  .  .  As  to  the  difficult  question  of  the  measure  of 
intelligent  acceptance  with  which  men  in  the  ministry  are 
to  be  expected  to  use  the  words  which  the  Church  puts  into 

^  The  4th  of  May  was  his  birthday  ;  and  it  was  his  habit  to  read  the 
90th  Psalm  at  prayers  on  the  birthdays  of  any  members  of  his  family. 


1860-63.  THE  BAPTISMAL  SERVICE.  21 

their  mouths,  the  possibiHty  of  using  fixed  forms  at  all  implies 
some  latitude  ;  and  yet  there  must  be  limits,  and  what  deter- 
mines these?  As  to  this  difficult  question,  in  its  reference 
to  the  Baptismal  Service,  it  has  appeared  to  me  that  one 
having  a  true  conception  of  baptism  as  being  into  "  the 
name  of  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit," 
combined  with  some  adequate  conception  of  that  relation  of 
every  man  to  God  which  the  proclamation  of  this  as  the 
name  of  God  implies,  ought  to  feel  more  liberty  in  using  the 
baptismal  service  than  any  excepting  those  who  hold  baptis- 
mal regeneration  can  feel.  Generally  we  find  that  any,  who 
feel  confident  that  what  they  hold  themselves  is  truth,  feel 
the  precise  identity  of  their  conceptions  with  those  of  the  men 
who  fixed  at  the  first  the  wording  of  the  baptismal  service  a 
matter  of  minor  importance,  although  all  protest  against  the 
avowal  of  using  words  in  a  non-natural  sense  when  this 
avowal  comes  from  those  whom  they  regard  as  erring  from 
the  faith  ;  and  so  Low-Churchmen  in  point  of  fact  take  as 
much  and  more  liberty  in  this  way  than  either  High-Church- 
men or  Broad-Churchmen.  But  without  judging  the  mea- 
sure of  liberty  assumed  by  any,  or  shutting  the  mouth  of 
each  severally  with  an  "  <?/  ///  guoqiie,^'  I  say  that  a  man  who 
sees  every  child  as  being  in  a  true  and  spiritual  relation  to 
Christ,  as  well  as  partaking  in  that  flesh  in  which  dwelleth 
no  good  thing,  is  believing  more  than  the  framers  of  the  ser- 
vice believed,  rather  than  believing  what  contradicts  it.  So 
that  the  thanks  rendered  after  the  baptism  are  for  a  reality, 
though  with  a  different  conception  of  the  way  in  which  it  is 
a  reality.  This  I  feel  to  be  a  far  nearer  agreement  (and 
practically  an  essential  agreement)  with  the  conception  which 
the  framers  of  the  service  had  of  the  position  of  the  baptised 
than  any  other  form  of  thought  not  really  identical  with 
theirs.  But  of  course,  if  absolute  identity  is  due,  then  a 
small  and  impractical  difference  is  as  conclusive  as  a  great 
and  practical  difference. 


22  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

As  to  the  righteousness  of  treating  this  or  even  a  greater 
amount  of  difference  of  conception,  as  not  a  bar  to  the  use 
of  the  forms  of  speech  fixed  by  the  Church,  the  shape  which 
this  difficult  question  has  been  taking  in  my  mind  latterly 
has  been  this  :  "  Has  God,  by  the  permission  of  stereotyped 
forms,  either  forbidden  free  thought,  or,  permitting  free 
thought,  has  He  forbidden  entrance  to  the  Church  in  every 
case  in  which  free  thought  issues  in  conclusions  to  the 
smallest  extent  going  beyond  and  diverse  from  those  at 
which  the  guiding  men  of  the  generation  which  fixed  the 
language  of  the  prayer  book  had  arrived  ?  "  One  cannot 
be  too  jealous  of  himself  if  taking  up  this  question  under 
the  biasing  influence  of  a  personal  interest  in  the  answer  : 
"  a  bribe  blinds  the  eye  of  a  judge."  But  taken  up  purely 
as  a  question  of  Divine  Providence,  and  the  obligations  or 
duties  that  may  spring  out  of  the  condition  of  things  into 
the  midst  of  which  we  are  born,  the  case  is  altered.  But 
I  shall  not  follow  this  farther. 

Innellan,  31st  July,  1862. 

Your  present  reading^  will,  I  trust,  help  you  to  realize  how 
high  an  aspiration  it  is  to  contemplate  being  a  minister  of 
Christ.  Yet,  with  all  that  is  so  beautiful  in  that  record  of  a 
man  of  God,  I  feel  that  it  presents  but  a  very  partial  and 
limited  illustration  of  the  apostle's  ideal :  "  We  preach  not 
ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  ser- 
vants for  Jesus'  sake."  To  preach  Christ  as  a  living  epistle 
is  to  manifest  his  life, — to  be  servants  of  others  in  spirit  and 
in  truth,  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many. 

Whatever  of  this  preaching  of  Christ  was  present  in  dear 
Inang  was  mingled  with  and  qualified  by  another  ideal  :  viz., 
that  of  ^aW/y  representing  Christ  by  the  taking  of  a  per- 
sonal standing,  and  exercising  a /^ri'f?;;^/ authority  distinct  from 
^  The  Life  of  Edward  Irving. 


1860-63.  IRVING  ISM.  23 

the  authority  of  truth.  The  progress  which  his  later  history- 
manifests  is  an  increase  of  this  latter  element  to  the  practical 
extruding  of  the  former.  No  man  can  serve  two  masters.  | 
When  a  man  speaks  with  authority,  not  any  longer  because 
he  speaks  truth,  but  because  he  is  officially  such  an  one,  and 
others  listen  to  him  with  an  obedience  which  is  no  longer 
rendered  to  the  truth  as  the  truth,  but  to  the  man  as  an 
ordinance,  the  process  to  which  I  refer  has  culminated  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ's  ceasing  to  be  the  kingdom  of  the  truth, 
and  men's  ceasing  to  honour  Him  as  He  honoured  the 
Father;  and,  correlatively,  men's  ceasing  to  receive  His 
ministers  in  His  name  in  the  sense  in  which  He  desired  to 
be  received  in  His  Father's  name. 

Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  apostles  of  the  Apostolic 
Church  excommunicate  men  as  heretics,  putting  down  the 
views  they  brand  as  heresy,  as  simply  and  absolutely  in  the 
way  of  mere  authority  as  the  Pope  does.  It  was  not  easy 
to  discern  the  two  principles  when  working  together  in  Mr. 
Irving  in  the  time  of  which  you  have  been  reading  ;  but  that 
the  question  was  become  one  of  serving  two  masters  became 
clear  to  me  in  1833,  and  the  development  since  of  the 
Church  then  coming  into  being  has  amply  justified  the  ground 
which  I  then  took. 

I  enjoyed  my  meeting  with  Mr.  Erskine  at  Polloc  very- 
much.  He  was  looking  forward  to  a  visit  from  Jowett. 
How  different  from  the  difficulty-  of  the  path  of  life  to  ordin- 
ary- men  is  its  difficulty  to  deep  thinking  men  !  and  yet  how 
truly  do  the  words  '■^  abide  in  ??ie"  "this  is  the  victory,  even 
our  faith,"  cover  both  cases,  and  direct  to  what  meets  our 
real  need,  whichever  be  our  case  !  I  was  struck  to  mark  how 
much,  after  all  his  thinking  and  free,  open,  honest  think- 
ing, dear  Mr.  Erskine's  firmest  hold  was  manifestly  experi- 
mental, and  what  the  words  of  the  psalm  express,  "  I  while 
I  live  will  call  on  Him,  who  bowed  to  me  His  ear."  ^ 
^  Psalm  cxvi.,  ver.  2,   Scotch  Version. 


24  MEMORIALS,  chap.  x. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

CoRRiGiLLS,  Arran,  August,  1862. 

Our  weather  is  now  fine,  and  we  have  all  along  had  a  fair 
proportion  of  fine  days.  Our  Sundays  have  been  specially 
beautiful,  and  our  glorious  mountain  preacher  (Goatfell),  has 
uttered  his  message  with  beauty  and  power ;  the  best  help 
for  our  Sunday  thoughts  here,  although  there  is  a  Free 
Church  near,  which  we  attend. 

I  was  to  one  service  the  first  Sunday,  and  to  two  last 
Sunday.  There  was  a  full  attendance,  and  quiet  still  atten- 
tion; but  the  preacher  was  trying.  The  farmer,  whose  house 
we  occupy,  passes  the  time  during  which  the  farm-house  is 
let  to  strangers,  in  a  wing ;  and  we  hear  their  psalm-singing 
at  worship  late  and  early,  which  is  pleasant. 

How  I  do  wish  you  could  be  with  us  looking  at  Goatfell ! 
Now  with  mists  hiding  its  summit,  and  leaving  it  to  fancy  to 
ascend  in  the  darkness  to  the  veiled  pinnacle ;  now  in  clear 
noonday  sunshine,  its  outline  strongly  defined  against  the 
blue  sky;  sometimes  a  bluish  grey  haze,  not  dense  enough  to 
hide  any  line  of  its  features,  still  is  dense  enough  to  yf//^  them 
and  give  them  a  lighter  tint,  which  removes  the  mountain  as 
to  a  greater  distance  without  really  filling  the  eye  less,  so 
making  it  almost  as  the  vision  of  an  Alp.  Then  in  the  even- 
ing when  the  sun  is  far  enough  to  the  north-west,  it  is  all  a 
deep  dark  purple,  combining  with  a  very  peculiar  effect  with 
the  golden  cloud  above,  and  the  light  of  golden  sunset 
beyond.     .     .     . 

Fellowship  and  communion  in  the  enjoyment  of  nature  is 
resting  and  refreshing,  as  that  which  is  connected  with  life 
and  actings  of  the  will  often  is  not.  I  desire  more  and 
more  of  the  power  to  take  the  latter  to  the  highest  light,  in 
which  the  peace  of  God  may  so  permeate  it  as  to  render  it  a 
peaceful  following  of  Him  as  dear  children;  for  this  our  prac- 
tical walk  should  be.     Sometimes  I  think  I  have  got  more 


1860-63.  "  THE  EVERLASTING  HILLS.''  25 

the  secret  of  this ;  and  sometimes  I  seem  to  have  lost  it. 
But  then  I  get  it  back  again.  It  is  the  thread  to  hold  fast  in 
passing  through  the  labyrinth,  I  believe  the  simplest  de- 
scription of  it  is,  that  it  is  obeying,  as  to  ourselves  and 
others,  the  words,  "  Labour  not  for  the  meat  which  perisheth, 
but  for  that  which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life."  ' 

To  Miss  Duncan. 

CORRIGILLS,    ArRAN,    30th  AugUSt,   1 862. 

I  feel  all  emancipation  from  bondage  to  the 
present,  and  to  the  life  that  is  in  our  present  visible  environ- 
ment, to  be  accompanied  by  a  true  possession  of  the  past  and 
the  future,  along  with  the  invisible ;  in  the  light  of  which 
these  come  to  be  truly  seen;  and  by  a  truer  possession,  also, 
of  the  visible  present  itself.  Such  elements  in  a  visible  pre- 
sent as  are  most  attractive  in  that  which  encompasses  me 
here  do,  however,  themselves  greatly  help  in  this.  "  The 
Everlasting  Hills"  feel  as  if  they  belonged  rather  to  Eternity 
than  to  time, — to  the  Unchangeable  than  to  the  changing. 
They  are  not,  indeed,  a  part  of  that  kingdom  which  cannot 
be  moved  (for  we  look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth, 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness)  ;  but  they  speak  of  that 
kingdom,  and  are  as  a  symbol  of  it,  and  eloquently  persuade 
the  heart  and  raise  the  spirit  to  dwell  in  it  by  faith. 

Dearest  Miss  Duncan,  you  know  that  my  thoughts  very 
naturally  find  their  way  to  you  in  scenes  like  this,  which  I 
know  you  so  much  enjoy;  but  Arran  and,  of  Arran,  Brodick 
especially,  as  we  have  been  here  together.  Yet  what  you 
saw  and  enjoyed,  however  it  may  help,  cannot  enable  you 
fully  to  realize  what  it  is  to  be  placed  here  over  against  these 
mountains,  with  the  breadth  of  Brodick  Bay  between,  and 
high  enough  to  take  them  in  as  a  whole ;  seeing  them  in  all 
lights  of  morning,  noon,  and  evening  ;  and  now  in  thin  mist, 
now  shrouded  in  dense  clouds  ;  now  with  their  form  and  out- 


26  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

line  strongly  marked  against  the  blue  sky,  owing  nothing  to 
the  clouds  but  their  flitting  shadows.  Sometimes  Goatfell 
and  its  fellows  seem  to  have  most  interest  when  you  mark 
them  as  distinct,  and  trace  the  course  of  Glenrosa  where  you 
know  it  Hes  among  them.  Sometimes  the  evening  sun,  far 
to  the  north-west,  lighting  only  their  summits  from  behind, 
and  causing  all  that  is  on  this  side  to  be  one  dark  purple, — 
while  the  heavens  themselves  are  an  atmosphere  of  tinted  light, 
with  gilded  clouds  floating  in  it, — affects  me  still  more  with 
that  sense  of  the  "  blending  of  earth  and  heaven  "  which  has 
so  much  power  over  us,  and  is  intended  to  have.  The  "pure 
serene  "  blue  ether  is  the  heavenly  element  in  the  brightest 
day ;  and  the  mountain,  where  put  as  a  mountain  screen  be- 
hind a  rich  purple  atmosphere,  is  still  the  element  of  earth 
in  the  most  glorious  sunset.  So  the  "  blending"  is  felt  in 
both  ;  but  in  the  latter  the  heavens  prevail  more.  But  I  am 
not  choosing  between  them,  but  enjoying  both.  '■'•He  gives 
us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy." 

But  do  not  think  of  me  as  living  a  simply  Arran  life,  even 
in  its  most  permissible  form;  and  among  what  besides  I 
have  been  passing  through  have  been  sad  thoughts  and 
sympathies  with  the  North  and  the  South  divisions  of  that 
kindred  people  so  fearfully  rent  asunder.  Our  great  temp- 
tation is  to  judge ;  our  great  calling  is  to  prayer. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  13th  September,  1862. 

I  have  read  the  article  in  the  North  British,  and  am 
thankful  for  so  really  free  a  spirit  in  an  article  from  that 
quarter.  The  tone  of  its  reference  to  me  is  remarkable,  and 
along  with  all  else  that  has  been  brought  out  by  these  two 
lives,^  as  well  as  these  lives  themselves,  makes  me  grateful 

^  The  Lives  of  Robert  Story  and  Edward  Irving. 


1860-63.  CLOUGH'S  POEMS.  27 

for  an   unlooked-for  acknowledgment  of  me  while  I  was 
silent,  and  attempted  no  setting  of  myself  right  with  men. 

Therefore,  though  it  is  so  much  short  of  what  an  able  arti- 
cle, written  in  intelligent  sympathy  with  my  faith,  would  be, 
it  is  enough  to  encourage  me  to  wait  patiently  His  time  whose 
wise  will  in  granting  or  withholding  acknowledgment  I  have 
waited  hitherto. 

To  Mr.  Erskine. 

Partick,  4th  October,  1S62. 

*■ .  .  .  Unless  men  have  something  higher  than  the  faith 
of  authority,  and  so  know  that  they  have  it  as  to  be  able  to 
fall  back  upon  it,  the  abstract  beauty  or  attractiveness  of  that 
which  is  higher  is  too  apt  to  be  regarded  at  the  most  with  a 
hopeless  sigh.  Nay,  even  in  fine  minds  the  assertion  of  the 
self-evidencing  nature  of  light,  while  the  light  is  7iot  yet  recog- 
nized, sometimes  awakens  impatience,  rather  than  commands 
interest.  I  have  lately  had  my  attention  directed  to  Clough's 
poems  (by  Mr.  Shairp),  and  have  felt  in  them — though  in  a 
philosophic  garb — the  instinctive  impatience  of  the  doctrine 
of  assurance  which  we  were  so  familiar  with  thirty  years  ago, 
in  minds  differing  widely  in  respect  of  religion  ;  some  seri- 
ous, some  careless,  some  Calvinistic,  some  Arminian ;  but 
which  were  alike  in  this  that  they  knew  not  that  they  knew 
the  living  God.  I  say,  "  knew  not  that  they  knew ;"  for 
I  believe  that  some  know  God  more  truly  than  they  know 
that  they  know.  At  the  time  I  refer  to,  I  would  not  have  so 
qualified  my  language. 

Give  my  love  to  dear  Mrs.  Paterson.  I  doubt  not  that 
she  at  seventy-one, — as  I,  at  sixty-two, — feels  that  she  is  only 
learning  to  number  her  days  aright ;  and  so  is  it  with  you 
also,  beloved  brother,  so  near  seventy-four  !  But  what  our 
God  has  taught  us  makes  the  consciousness  that  we  are  under 
his  teaching  still,  and  shall  be  for  ever,  a  comfort  which  our 


28  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

own   slowness   to   learn,    however  humbling,    cannot   take 
from  us. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Poi.LOC,  19th  October,  1862. 

.  .  .  The  difficulties  which  you  have  to  deal  with  are 
of  two  distinct  kinds :  ist,  Difficulties  which  refer  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Church ;  and,  2nd,  difficulties  which  refer  to 
the  character  of  the  fountain  from  which  the  Church 
professes  to  have  drawn  her  teaching,  viz.,  the  Scriptures. 
One  may  stand  in  doubt  of  the  deductions  made  from  the 
Scriptures,  whether  they  have  been  correctly  dj-awn ;  or  one 
may  stand  in  doubt  of  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  from 
which  the  deductions  are  made.  Also,  in  so  far  as  that 
authority  is  itself  the  subject  of  dogmatic  statement,  the 
second  class  of  difficulties  may  be  included  in  the  first,  and 
a  part  of  the  teaching  questioned  may  be  what  is  taught  on 
the  subject  of  inspiration.  Here  again  it  is  plain  that 
different  theories  of  inspiration  may  equally  leave  the 
authority  of  the  Scriptures  as  to  all  that  is  Christianity 
unquestioned.  Thus  one  man  may  say,  "The  Bible  was  not 
intended  to  teach  geology  or  astronomy;  therefore  my 
faith  in  what  it  teaches  in  its  own  proper  region  is  not 
affected  by  scientific  difficulties  as  to  what  it  teaches  on 
these  subjects."  Another  may  say,  "Whatever  is  taught  as 
to  any  region  of  knowledge  must  be  according  to  the  truth 
of  things,  however  our  partial  apprehension  may  be  unequal 
to  the  task  of  harmonizing."  While  both  are  prepared  to 
bow  to  the  Scriptures,  as  to  all  which  they  are  agreed  in 
regarding  as  the  great  subject  ol  Revelation. 

Yet  there  are  theories  of  inspiration  which  so  blend  the 
subjective  with  the  objective,  in  the  conception  formed  of 
the  state  of  mind  of  the  inspired,  as  to  reduce  the  Bible  to 
the  level  of  other  books,  in  this  sense,  that,  even  as  to 


1860-63.  MODERN  THEOLOGY.  29 

essential  Christianity,  after  we  have  read,  the  task  of 
separating  the  Divine  from  the  Human  remains.  What  an 
apostle  has  taught  may,  in  this  view,  be  ascertained,  and  the 
question  "  How  much  of  this  is  truth  ? "  may  still  remain. 
The  assumption  that  inspiration  is  such  a  thing  as  justifies 
our  acceptance  of  what  the  Apostles  taught  as  Christianity, 
was  forma-ly  the  state  of  mind  in  which  all  who  accepted 
the  Scriptures  as  a  revelation,  took  up  questions  of  doctrine. 
Trinitarian  and  Unitarian  alike  appealed  to  Scripture.  Now 
the  battle  has  passed  into  another  field.  Men  are  impatient 
of  quotations  from  Scriptures.  They  take  the  Scriptures  up 
to  sift  and  prove  their  teaching,  prepared  to  find  much 
of  that  teaching  merely  human,  and  to  be  dealt  with 
accordingly. 

But  whether  the  question  be  one,  as  formerly,  of  inter- 
p7-etation,  or,  as  now,  of  authority,  my  conviction  is,  that  the 
danger  of  falling  into  error,  and  the  hope  of  attaining  to 
truth,  turn  always  on  the  measure  of  preparedness  to 
welcome  and  respond  to  what  God  is  teaching.  Among 
those  who  bow  to  the  authority  of  Scripture  there  is 
sufficient  diversity  to  show  that  so  to  bow  is  no  security. 
And,  although  I  would  not  willingly  allow  any  student  of 
truth  to  come  down  from  the  position  that  the  teaching  of 
St.  Paul  is  true  whether  he  understands  it  or  not;  although 
he  is  right  in  doubting  that  he  yet  understands  it  while  he 
does  not  yet  see  the  glory  of  God  in  it ; — still,  I  feel  that 
the  man  who  has  "  the  love  of  the  truth  "  in  him  is  more 
likely  to  receive  the  truth  from  the  Apostle,  even  though 
according  to  his  theory  he  believes  that  it  is  present  in  a 
mixed  state,  than  the  man  who  without  the  love  of  the 
truth  reads  the  Apostle's  words  as  those  of  an  unerring 
teacher. 

Believing  as  I  do  that  the  apostle  was  in  divine  light, 
I  expect  the  lover  of  the  truth  to  end,  though  he  may  not 
begin,  with  this  conviction.    Receiving  at  first  only  what  had 


30 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 


the  witness  of  light  to  him, — feeling  that  the  rest  might  be 
error, — he  may  have  gone  on  seeing  the  portion  that  had 
the  witness  of  light  getting  larger  and  larger,  and  the 
remnant  of  darkness  becoming  less  and  less,  until  this 
latter  quantity  has  vanished.  But  doubtless  long  before  this 
the  ultimate  result  will  have  been  anticipated,  and  as  one 
passage  after  another  has  become  clear,  being  understood, 
the  conviction  will  have  become  irresistible  that  the  remain- 
ing darkness  was  only  in  the  reader. 

Having  this  conviction  both  as  to  the  powerlessness  of 
mere  deference  to  the  authority  of  Scripture  to  secure  us 
from  error,  and  as  to  the  protection  that  is  in  "  the  love  of 
the  truth,"  even  when  one's  conceptions  of  the  Inspiration 
of  Revelation  are  inadequate,  I  am  of  course  more  anxious 
that  you  should  have  in  you  the  love  of  the  truth  than  that 
you  should  be  in  clear  light  as  to  inspiration.  At  the  same 
time,  if  free  thought  has  so  often  wandered,  even  while 
the  authority  of  Revelation  has  been  most  fully  recognized, 
it  is  clearly  in  greater  danger  still  when  that  authority  is  not 
recognized.  For  myself,  I  feel  that  I  might  have  rested  in 
much  rejection  of  Scripture  if  I  had  felt  at  liberty  to  refuse 
portions  in  which  I  did  not  see  what  was  of  God ;  while  these 
very  portions  have  afterwards  come  to  seem  to  be  full  of 
divine  light.  This  has  been  my  experience  as  to  the  eighth 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  my  hope  is  that  it 
may  yet  be  so  as  to  the  ninth. 

This  is  not  the  letter  which  I  promised,  but  it  may  be  its 
suitable  precursor. 

PoLLOC,  2 1st  October. 
.  .  .  I  think  you  know  that  I  have  no  superstitious 
feeling  about  the  Bible.  I  believe  that  it  contains  a  divine 
revelation  in  the  light  of  which  I  desire  to  be ;  but  I  do  not 
forget  the  great  diversity  in  its  constituent  parts  ;  and  I  am 
simply  anxious  to  accept  each  part  according  to  what  it  is. 


1860-63.  SUBJECTS  FOR  CRITICISM.  31 

Thus  I  believe  that  the  prophets  were  the  teachers  of  their 
own  generation.  I  believe,  also,  that  they  had  a  further 
function  which  connected  them  with  the  church  in  all  time. 
How  any  particular  portion  of  their  writings  is  to  be  under- 
stood,— whether  as  simply  a  word  to  the  men  of  their  own 
time,  and  a  divine  comment  on  present  things,  or  as  a 
^vord  for  the  future  in  its  great  bearing,  however  fitted  to  be 
light  also  to  their  own  time, — this  I  feel  a  proper  subject  of 
study  :  nor  do  I  feel  my  general  faith  in  the  Scriptures  at  all 
touched  by  the  conclusions  of  this  study.  What  I  am  jealous 
of  is,  not  the  conclusions  of  fair  criticism,  but  certain  assump- 
tions as  to  what  is  antecedently  believable  and  unbelievable, 
which  hinder  fair  criticism,  and  tend  to  make  it  a  process  of 
stretching  the  Scriptures  on  a  Procrustean  bed  :  a  process 
which,  used  by  a  Hugh  Miller  in  what  seem  to  him  the 
interests  of  orthodoxy,  offends,  but  which  is,  of  course,  equally 
(though  I  do  not  say  more)  to  be  condemned  used  in  the 
interests  of  heterodoxy. 

To  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 
Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  29th  October,  1862. 

.  .  .  I  trust  you  have  both  returned  home  much  the 
better  in  every  way  of  your  time  in  Scotland,  and  converse 
with  nature  in  my  native  land.  How  the  places  you  have 
seen  without  human  associations  would  have  spoken  of  per- 
sons to  me  ! 

When  you  find  leisure  for  your  contemplated  letter  please 
tell  me  what  you  feel,  and  what  the  younger  clergy  feel,  as  to 
what  Lushington's  judgment  ^  amounts  to.  There  has  been 
an  article,  which  however  I  have  not  seen,  in  the  Westmin 

^  This  refers  to  the  judgment  given  in  the  Court  of  Arches  on  25th 
June,  1S62,  "  which  was  in  form  interlocutory,  but  in  effect  a  full 
treatment  of  the  merits. "  Dr.  Lushington's  final  judgment  was  given 
in  December.     See  Ecclesiastical  Judgments,  pp.  251,  252. 


32  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

ster  Review,  urging  that,  if  before,  at  least  not  now  is  "  sub- 
scription no  bondage."  If  this  article  is  in  the  spirit  of  the 
famous  one  on  the  Essays  and  Reviews,  I  would  not  attach 
much  weight  to  it.  The  subject  of  articles,  and  the  requisi- 
tion of  subscription  to  them,  is  one  of  much  difficulty.  But 
in  proportion  as  the  Church  of  England  is  seen  as  related  to 
God  as  a  divine  ordinance  for  light  in  the  land,  and  as  we 
cease  to  look  for  a  perfection  in  the  ordinance  of  the  church 
which  we  look  not  for  in  any  other  ordinance, — as  the 
family  or  the  State, — we  must  feel  that  articles  of  faith 
must  be  thought  of  as  connected  with  an  imperfect  and  pro- 
gressing institution.  If  also  we  are  enabled  to  be  pure  in 
our  desire  to  minister  in  the  church,  we  shall  feel  it  a  solemn 
thing  to  say,  "  God  shuts  us  out  from  this  ministry,  for  He 
has  permitted  in  His  providence  conditions  to  be  attached  to 
it,  which  are  incompatible  with  a  true  confession  of  Christ." 
If  light  shuts  us  out,  then  how  is  this  an  ordinance _/^r  lights 
Yet  the  light  that  is  in  the  great  body  may  conceivably  be- 
come darkness,  inasmuch  as  darkness  may  come  to  bear 
rule.  We,  I  suppose,  would  say  that  it  is  so  in  Roman 
Catholic  countries ;  Unitarians  must  hold  that  it  is  so  in 
England.  Only  it  is  no  mere  inadequacy,  or  vagueness,  in 
the  light  of  the  church  of  a  particular  time,  and  in  the  em- 
bodying of  that  light  in  articles,  that  would  amount  to 
this.    .    .    . 

To  the  Same. 
Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  13th  November,  1862. 

My  dear  Mr.  Vaughan, — I  knew  nothing  of  Bishop 
Colenso's  book  until  a  day  or  two  before  its  publication, 
when  a  friend  of  his  (and  of  Mr.  Maurice)  sent  me  the  pre- 
face and  the  last  chapter  (in  proof);  and  mentioned  also 
what  Mr.  M.  felt  about  it,  and  the  step  which  he  had  con- 
templated, but  which  he  had  been  persuaded  not  finally  to 


i86o-63.  BISHOP  CO  LENS  0.  33 

take.  I  got  the  volume  on  its  coming  to  Glasgow,  and  read 
it  with  painful  interest,  while  with  much  tenderness  for  Bishop 
Colenso  in  his  embarrassing  position.  I  have  much  sym- 
pathy with  Mr.  Maurice  in  what  I  believe  him  to  be  feeling ; 
although,  as  I  always  regret  when  a  churchman  comes  down 
from  the  higher  ground  of  "What  is  true?"  to  the  lower 
ground  of  "What  does  the  church  teach?"  I  shall  be 
thankful  if  he  keeps  on  the  higher  ground,  and  is  not  tempted 
to  come  down  to  the  lower  ground. 

Mr.  Maurice's  frequent  testifying  to  the  creed  of  the 
church, — even  to  the  extent  of  expressing  thankfulness  for 
the  Articles, — would  save  him  from  any  suspicion  of  incon- 
sistency in  making  an  appeal  to  what  the  church  has  de- 
clared, so  far  as  his  own  position  is  concerned :  but  he  has 
contended  for  toleration  in  a  case  which  differed  from  the 
present  only  in  degree,  if  even  in  that ;  I  mean  the  case  of 
the  Essays  and  Reviews ;  and  I  should  regret  to  see  the 
taunt  addressed  by  others  to  the  writers  of  that  volume  ad- 
dressed by  him  to  Colenso. 

But  I  am  very  thankful,  whatever  he  does,  that  he  has  not 
come  out  of  his  present  position  in  the  church,  as  if  that 
were  necessary  to  his  acting  freely.  Such  a  step  would  be 
sure  to  be  misunderstood ; — unless,  indeed,  he  has  come  to 
the  conclusion,  that  Dr.  Lushington's  judgment  has  made 
"  subscription  "  to  be  no  longer  "  no  bondage." 

As  to  this,  I  do  not  know  how  far  a  judgment  such  as  this 
(supposing  it  confirmed)  is  to  be  regarded  as  determining 
the  constitution  of  the  church, — however  it  may  be  effective 
in  penal  consequences  to  individuals.  I  cannot  myself  see 
how  the  church  can  consent  to  be  other  than  free  in  declar- 
ing the  truth — of  course  submitting  meekly  to  whatever  this 
may  involve.  I  know  the  habit  of  the  English  mind  as  to 
the  authority  oi  judgments,  as  fixing  the  meaning  of  laws. 
But  the  infaUibility  of  judgments  is  not,  I  suppose,  assumed. 
It  surely  is  competent  in  civil  matters  to  go  back  from  the 

VOL.  II.  c 


34  MEMORIALS.  chap,  x. 

decision  to  the  statute.  Is  it  not?  But  whether  this  would 
be  done  hopeftilly  in  a  question  of  dodrijie,  or  not,  it  might 
be — I  think,  would  be — a  part  of  faithfulness  to  Christ  to 
take  this  course  in  reference  to  any  decision  that  interfered 
with  "  the  liberty  of  preaching."  Nay,  it  appears  to  me 
that  it  is  allowable,  not  only  to  fall  back  on  what  deeper 
truth  underlies  the  truth  recognized  in  articles  of  faith  (in 
which  light  I  always  saw  Mr.  Maurice's  acceptance  of  the 
Articles);  but  even  to  dissent  from  whatever  mixture  of  error 
the  imperfect  light  in  which  articles  have  been  framed,  may 
have  caused.  It  belongs,  it  appears  to  me,  to  the  living 
church  to  accept  the  purer  teaching,  or  to  reject  it,  and  the 
teacher  with  it, — doing  this  at  its  peril.  This  appeared  to 
me  clear  when  teaching  what  I  knew  the  living  church  in 
Scotland  was  likely — and,  unless  by  some  special  grace  of 
God,  was  sure — to  reject.  And  although  I  felt  it  right,  see- 
ing ground  for  so  thinking,  to  state  reasons  for  concluding 
that  the  word  "  redemption  "  was  not  used  by  the  Westmin- 
ster Assembly  in  the  sense  in  which  holding  redemption  limited 
was  a  limiting  of  the  atonement,  I  was  at  pains  to  make  it 
clear  that  I  stood  simply  on  the  truth  of  my  teaching, — its 
hai'mony  with  the  Scriptures.  I  did  not,  indeed,  then  see 
the  subject  of  election  as  I  now  see  it;  otherwise  I  must 
have  recognized  a  pointed  contradiction  of  a  part  of  my 
faith,  as  contained  in  the  Westminster  Confession.  But  the 
liberty  which  I  claimed  I  claimed  on  ground  which  even  that 
would  not  have  affected.  But  even  with  that  extent  of  dif- 
ference, I  would  have  felt  it  my  part  to  witness  faithfully  to 
the  truth  which  I  knew ; — their  part  to  weigh  its  claim  to 
be  truth. 

I  was  not  understood  then ;  nor  would  one  taking  the  same 
line  be  likely  to  be  understood  Jioic.  "As  deceivers  and 
yet  true  "  is  among  the  most  repulsive  aspects  of  the  cross. 
But  the  risk  of  misconception  was  to  be  faced  in  the  en- 
deavour to  force  my  brethren  to  come  di7-ect  to  the  question. 


1860-63.     THE  WESTMINSTER  CONFESSION.  35 

"  Is  this  the  truth?"  which  it  was  their  temptation  to  shirk. 
How  many  would  have  shrunk  from  saying,  "  I  behave  that 
Christ  did  not  die  for  all  men,"  who  had  no  difficulty  in  say- 
ing, "  The  Confession  says  He  died  only  for  the  elect,  and 
that  is  enough  for  us."  I  remember  well  the  pain  with 
which  I  heard  one  of  my  judges  (a  D.D.)  say,  "  He  cannot 
preach  this,  and  be  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 
Let  him  go  to  England  and  preach  it,  and  we  may  bid  him 
God  speed."  This  was,  I  believe,  an  extreme  case.  But  I 
was  thankful,  and  am  now  thankful,  that  any  measure  of 
liberty  to  get  away  from  the  question,  "  What  is  the  truth  of 
God  here?"  I  protested  against. 

You  will  see,  if  I  have  expressed  myself  now  with  suffi- 
cient clearness,  how  to  me  the  pain  of  reading  Bishop 
Colenso's  book  was,  that  he  should  have  come  to  such 
conclusions,  or,  having  come  to  them,  that  he  should 
have  felt  it  his  duty  to  publish  them,  rather  than  that  he 
should  not  have  felt  it  necessary  to  denude  himself  of 
his  position  in  the  church  before  publishing  them.  Of 
course  I  feel  that  his  position  as  a  bishop  makes  the 
power  of  his  book  for  evil  greater ;  as,  I  would  also 
say,  it  made  the  call  upon  him  to  take  counsel  with  his 
brethren,  and  to  seek  any  light  for  guidance  that  might  be 
in  them,  more  imperative.  And  I  am  quite  unable  to  see 
how  a  man  should  feel  called  at  so  terrible  a  risk  to  disturb 
men's  historical  faith, — however  clearly  he  might  conclude 
that  that  faith  accepts  errors  as  to  such  matters  of  fact  as  he 
discusses, — unless  he  saw  some  element  of  eternal  truth  to 
be  involved.  But,  indeed,  I  expect,  when  he  has  gone 
through  the  task  which  he  has  set  to  himself,  and  we  know 
all  his  thoughts,  that  it  will  appear,  that  it  has  seemed  to 
him  that  these  matter-of-fact  errors,  as  he  conceives  them  to 
be,  have  infused  some  evil  element  into  our  thoughts  of  God. 
If  it  be  so,  this  has  not  been  to  him  a  question  of  discretion 
or  wise  reticence,  but  something  far  more  serious,  involving 


36  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

not  arithmetical  or  physical  difficulties  merely, — though 
these  he  puts  forward  first, — but  what  he  feels  to  be  moral 
and  spiritual  difficulties. 

I  feel  deeply  for  Mr.  Maurice,  not  only  because  he  has 
been  so  much  in  the  van  in  our  day  in  free  thought,  and  may 
be  felt  by  Bishop  Colenso  to  have  given  the  impulse  to  free 
thought  to  his  mind ;  which  also  Mr.  Maurice  may  at  one  time 
have  himself  thankfully  perceived  to  be  the  case  : — but  more 
especially  because  he  has  done  so  much  to  claim  for  the  Old 
Testament  a  unity  with  the  New  beyond  what  has  been 
generally  discerned ;  and  has  himself  so  deep  a  faith  in  that 
unity,  that  he  must  feel — what  we  may  all  feel — that  to  touch 
the  one  is  to  touch  the  other.  This  I,  at  least,  feel — to  a 
degree  that  makes  the  desire  for  an  answer  to  this  book  at 
this  moment  painfully  earnest, — an  answer  that  may  be  as 
easily  understood  as  the  statements  to  be  answered,  and 
which  therefore  I  could  offer  to  others  as  a  simple  and 
straightforward  reply.  Nothing  of  what  occurs  to  my  own 
mind  has  this  character.  Such  reply  may  be  found  in  some 
more  accurate  knowledge  of  facts,  and  yet,  for  the  trial  of 
men's  faith,  may  remain  undiscovered.  But  nothing  occurs 
to  me  that  is  not  apt  to  appear  a  straining,  though  no  such 
straining  is  so  hard  of  faith  as  the  conclusions  which  the  book 
involves. 

My  mind  has  been  so  full  of  this  matter, — and  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  near  future  to  you,  and  my  other  friends  in 
the  Church  of  England, — and  to  the  Church, — and  to  the 
land, — that  I  have  written  all  this  before  coming  to  the  sub- 
ject of  my  letter — that  subject  on  which  you  ask  me  to  write. 

I  have  felt  enough  in  my  own  experience  of  what  you  ex- 
press to  be  able,  I  think,  to  enter  fully  into  your  difficulty. 
I  have  felt  the  mention  of  long  seasons  of  prayer,  in  the 
record  of  holy  lives,  as  convicting  me  of  great  short-coming ; 
and,  though  I  have  come  to  distinguish  between  much  time 
spent  in  the  thoughts  and   the  language  of  petition,  and 


iS5o-63.  SEASONS  OF  PRAYER.  37 

actual  communion  with  God  in  prayer,  and  to  see  that  a  low 
conception  of  what  such  communion  [is]  as  known  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  may  permit  a  satisfaction  in  seeming  prayer 
beyond  the  reality  of  prayer,  and  in  this  way  have  come  to 
make  less  account  than  I  once  did  of  the  mention  of  "  hours 
spent  in  prayer," — still  I  have  had  no  liberty  to  cut  down  the 
apostle's  experience,  or  on  this  ground  to  reconcile  myself 
to  the  consciousness  of  coming  so  much  short  of  his  de- 
mand. From  any  feeling  of  this  kind  I  was  the  more  shut 
out  that  to  me  our  Lord's  teaching,  and  our  Lord's  example, 
have  always  seemed  to  raise  the  standard  at  least  as  high  as 
his  servant  St.  Paul  raises  it.  There  may  be  as  real  com- 
munion in  meditation  as  in  prayer ;  there  may  be  as  much 
faith  in  expecting  as  in  asking ;  but,  in  the  light  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  evil  that  is  and  of  the  ^1?^^  which  God  ^oilis  to  be, 
prayer  according  to  that  will  of  God  seems  to  have  a  fixed 
place  between  desi?'e  and  hope.  My  whole  conception  of  our 
Lord's  dealing  with  the  evil  in  reaching  to  the  good  is  ac- 
cording to  this.  Besides,  also,  what  seems  to  me  the  natural 
process  of  light  as  to  evil,  present  in  union  with  weakness  and 
dependence,  and  with  faith  that  the  evil  is  not  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  moving  to  prayer  to  God  concerning  that 
evil,  and  of  light  as  to  the  good  which  may  take  the  place  of 
that  evil,  moving  to  prayer  that  it  may  take  its  place, — be- 
sides this  it  appears  to  me  to  be  constantly  coming  out,  as  I 
may  say,  that  this  was  a  process  ever  going  on  in  our  Lord's 
inner  life  of  intercourse  with  the  Father,  as  what  was  of  the 
inward  essence  of  that  '  doing  always  that  which  pleased  the 
Father '  of  which  He  speaks.  And  as  to  more  marked  and 
special  events  of  asking  and  receiving,  how  striking  (what 
has  been  noticed)  the  mention  that  He  "  continued  all  night 
in  prayer"  just  before  choosing  from  among  His  disciples 
the  twelve  to  be  apostles.  This  record  of  our  Lord's  coji- 
iinuing  all  night  in  prayer  has  been,  I  confess,  more  fre- 
quently present  to  my  thoughts  both  for  rebuke  and  for 


38  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

guidance  (I  do  not  mean  as  the  actual  amount  of  time)  than 
the  practice  or  teaching  of  St.  Paul ;  though  these  accorded 
with  this,  and  his  exhortation  to  "  pray  without  ceasing"  has 
been  to  me  one  with  our  Lord's  "  speaking  a  parable  that 
men  ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint." 

As  to  making  the  example  of  the  apostle,  or  even  that  of 
our  Lord,  a  law  to  07ieself,  this  as  you  say  would  be  to  let  in 
an  element  of  bondage.  Let  us  rather  see  prayer  in  our 
Lord  as  an  ektnent  of  the  life  given  to  us  in  Him,  and  prayer 
in  St.  Paul  as  the  presence  of  this  element  of  that  life  in  a 
man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves  ;  for  so  those  should  look 
at  both  to  whom  eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God  in  His  Son, 
and  whose  faith  in  this  gift  is  helped  by  cases  of  manifest 
participation  in  it  by  men  our  brethren.  The  perfection  of 
this  element  of  the  life  of  sonship  in  our  Lord,  or  its  high 
measure  in  the  Apostle,  should  no  more  cast  us  down,  under 
the  sense  of  the  smallness  of  the  measure  to  which  we  are 
attaining,  than  the  smallness  of  our  personal  measure  of  at- 
tainment in  holiness  or  love. 

As  to  the  greater  sense  of  easy  flow  in  our  spiritual  life 
when  much  prayer  is  not  attempted,  and  we  rather  rest  in 
meditation,  and  childlike  waiting  on  the  will  of  God  as  it 
takes  form,  I  know  perfectly  the  difference  which  you  mark. 
But  self-examination  has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  this 
greater  sense  of  ease  and  freedom  arises  from  less  being  at- 
tempted in  the  way  of  faith  in  the  living  God,  and  in  con- 
sequence short-coming  being  less  revealed  in  our  conscious- 
ness. That  most  tests  our  faith  in  God  which  most  demands 
trust  of  that  kind  which  contemplates  an  effective  influence 
on  the  future  through  a  response  in  God ;  and  this  character 
is  distinctive  of  prayer  as  compared  with  meditation.  I  never 
am  so  conscious  how  small  the  measure  of  my  faith  is, — 
never  so  remember  with  comfort  our  Lord's  gracious  ac- 
knowledgment of  its  value  when  but  as  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed, — as  when  seeking  the  reality  of  prayer. 


1860-63.  THE  REALITY  OF  PRAYER.  39 

I  would  say,  also,  as  to  comparative  pleasantness,  that,  if 
less  sunny  than  seasons  of  holy  meditation,  or  believing  re- 
pose under  the  shadow  of  God's  wings,  moments  of  conscious 
trust  in  prayer  have  in  them  a  consciousness  of  personal 
meeting  with  the  living  God, — a  ti'iie  transaction  with  Him, — 
which,  both  in  itself  and  in  the  effect  which  remains  from  it, 
in  the  forms  of  humility  and  brokenness  of  spirit,  and 
strengthening  of  the  habitual  faith,  is  beyond  all  price. 

As  to  the  coming  in  of  legalism  I  may  add  as  to  my  own 
experience,  that  neither  formerly  when  I  used  to  set  apart 
more  time  for  prayer,  nor  latterly  since  prayer  has  been  less 
of  set  purpose,  and  more  the  natural  form  which  thought  and 
desire  have  assumed  in  the  turning  of  the  heart  to  God,  as 
things  have  been  habitually  taken  to  His  light,  have  I  felt  any 
legal  bondage  as  under  a  task-master.  What  I  have  felt  of 
self-condemnation  has  been,  I  think,  what  has  been  in- 
separable from  seeking  an  ideal  far  above  my  attaining ;  only, 
as  I  have  said,  that  the  nature  of  what  has  been  sought  has 
made  the  short-coming  to  be  more  felt. 

I  must  stop.  I  have  read  over  what  I  have  written,  and 
think  I  could  make  it  clearer  were  I  rewriting  it;  but  I  hope 
you  will  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  me  :  and  you 
will  enter  into  my  reason  for  making  my  answer  so  much  a 
confession.  I  will  only  add  that  I  am  very  fearful  of  giving 
place  to  the  temptation  to  wait  upon  the  evolution  of  a  Bene- 
volent Fate,  rather  than  to  deal  with  God  as  the  Hearer  and 
Answerer  of  prayer.    .    .    . 

'  To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  15th  Nov.,  1S62. 

Your  letter  found  me  occupied  in  writing  to  my  friend, 
Mr.  Vaughan  of  Leicester,  in  reply  to  a  very  pleasant  letter 
from  him,  which  I  was  answering  at  considerable  length.  I 
would  have  more  pleasure  in  meeting  your  request  had  I 


40  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

felt  in  clearer  light  on  its  subject.  Indeed,  in  that  case  I 
would  probably  have  written  without  waiting  to  be  asked  to 
do  so.  Yet  the  thoughts  which  I  myself  turn  to  for  comfort 
I  may  offer  for  your  comfort. 

For  the  first  time  I  have  found  myself  unable  to  meet 
with  its  dh-ect  and  appropriate  reply  an  attack  on  Revelation. 
I  have  no  answer  to  Bishop  Colenso's  book  on  its  own 
ground,  and  meeting  it  directly.  My  persuasion,  neverthe- 
less, is,  that  in  the  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  such  an 
answer  would  be  readily  seen.  The  explanation  must  be  as 
simple  as  the  difficulties  are.  The  real  history  can  have 
had  no  contradictions,  however  this  appearance  of  contra- 
dictions has  arisen.  But  the  needed  knowledge,  if  to  be 
had,  I  at  least  have  not.  It  may  be  graciously  granted,  or 
it  may,  for  the  trial  of  men's  faith,  be  withheld. 

However  this  may  be,  I  feel  justified  in  retaining  my 
confidence  in  the  Sacred  Record ;  not  merely  as  a  matter  of 
religious  comfort, — which  it  very  obviously  is, — nor  yielding 
to  a  blind  conservative  instinct,  however  much  this  might 
be  my  tendency  were  the  occasion  less  searching  and 
rousing;  but  as  the  reasonable  alternative.  That  is  to  say,  I 
feel  it  more  reasonable  to  assume  that  there  is  some  simple 
natural  explanation,  though  I  know  it  not,  than  to  assume 
that  the  edifice  of  our  Faith, — the  substructure  of  Judaism, 
and  the  superstructure  of  Christianity, — rests  on  a  hollow 
foundation.  It  does  not  appear  to  me  just  or  reasonable  to 
ask  us,  standing  where  we  stand  in  the  course  of  time  and 
history  of  man,  to  take  up  the  Exodus  and  examine  its  con- 
tents, in  order  to  measure  its  claim  to  our  faith  by  the 
result  of  what  is  called  historical  criticism,  ignoring  what  we 
know  of  its  relation  to  Judaism  and  Christianity.  It  sounds 
plausible  to  say,  "Put  aside  the  prestige  with  which  it  comes 
to  you,  and  judge  of  it  as  you  would  of  anything  coming 
down  to  you  from  a  remote  antiquity  with  no  special  prestige 
at  all."    But  we  cannot  get  quit  of  the  prestige  with  which  it 


1860-63.  COLENSO  ON  EXODUS.  41 

comes  to  us.  We  dare  not  make  the  attempt  if  we  would 
weigh  in  just  scales  its  claim  on  our  faith. 

To  determine  what  it  is  in  itself,  we  must  take  into 
account  the  work  which  it  has  wrought  in  the  earth.  We 
must  realize  the  present,  and  travel  up  the  past ;  we  must 
start  from  Christianity  as  a  fact, — a  form  of  human  thought 
and  feeling — a  life  seen  in  men;  we  must  trace  Christianity 
to  Christ,  realizing  our  faith  as  to  Him, — what  we  believe 
Him  to  be,  what  many  of  us  can  say  we  know  Him  to  be ; 
we  must  ascend  from  Christ  to  Moses  by  the  Hght  of  His 
testimony  to  Moses'  prophetic  words  concerning  Him ;  we 
must  consider  how  the  language  of  the  Gospels  recording 
our  Lord's  personal  ministry,  and  the  language  of  the 
Epistles  after  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  all  that  we 
esteem  Divine  Revelation  down  to  the  mention  of  ''the 
song  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb"  in  the  book  of  Revelation, 
are  all  one  in  the  place  given  to  Moses ;  we  must,  in  the 
light  in  which  we  thus  are,  trace  back  the  development  of 
the  divine  counsel  to  its  earlier  stages,  and  so  ultimately 
reach  the  Exodus;  and  thai,  having  approached  the  Exodus 
by  this  path,  ask  ourselves,  "  Is  it  easier  to  believe  that  the 
difficulties  urged  by  Bishop  Colenso  have  some  explanation 
though  we  know  it  not,  or  to  believe  that  these  difficulties 
discredit  the  Exodus,  and  leave  for  the  germ  of  this  divine 
development  only  a  fiction  ?  "  These  are  the  horns  of  the 
dilemma  between  which  this  book  seems  to  place  us.  But 
which  horn  must  yield  I  cannot  doubt.  Putting  the 
analysis  of  the  book  and  what  we  know  as  the  history  of 
the  book  into  opposite  scales,  the  history  must  outweigh  the 
analysis. 

But  however  strong  this  position  is,  and  however  peace- 
fully we  may  occupy  it,  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  that  one 
would  gratefully  welcome  direct  answers  to  the  Bishop's 
objections;  nor  can  one  withhold  the  endeavour  to  find  such 
answers.     .     .     . 


42  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

[After  examining  several  points  in  detail,  he  continues  :] 
But  I  cannot  believe  that  arithmetical  and  physical  difficul- 
ties have  been  what  weighed  most  with  Bishop  Colenso. 
He  has  moral  and  spiritual  difficulties  also;  difficulties  in 
identifying  the  God  of  the  Jews  with  the  God  and  Father  of 
cur  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  shall  not  notice  these  now.  .  .  . 
I  feel  as  yet  that  I  cannot  go  through  the  whole  subject  as 
I  would  like  to  do.  Let  us  wait  in  faith  and  in  prayer ;  for 
answers  as  level  to  all  capacities  as  the  objections  would 
seem  a  great  mercy,  however  needed  the  trial  to  which  faith 
is  in  the  meantime  subjected.     .     .     . 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  30th  Nov.,  1862. 

You  have  learned  from  your  mother  that  our  dear  kind 
old  relative.  Dr.  M'Leod,  has  been  taken  away,  leaving  a 
blank  in  his  home  that  may  be  more  felt  than  had  he  been 
taken  years  before,  ere  decay  had  made  him  the  subject  of 
so  much  nursing  care. 

I  returned  from  Edinburgh  on  Thursday,  and  went  early 
on  Friday, — first  to  Norman  and  then  to  the  sisters,  and 
then  to  the  widow  and  the  daughters.  I  may  say  that  I 
went  as  a  mourner  to  these  mourners ;  for  I  feel  his  death 
both  as  the  removal  of  one  from  whom  I  have  experienced 
much  kindness  during  the  fifty-six  years  to  which  my  re- 
membrance of  him  extends,  and  as  the  breaking  of  the  last 
link  \\ith  that  past  of  which  my  beloved  father  was  the 
central  interest. 

This  blow  has  been  sudden,  inasmuch  as  he  was  better 
since  his  return  to  Glasgow  a  week  before,  than  he  had  been 
on  the  occasion  of  his  return  for  some  years ;  although  they 
have  latterly  always  felt  their  hold  of  him  very  slender. 
They  are  feeling  under  it  no  more,  I  think,  than  it  is  well 
that  tliey  should  feel. 


1860-63.  LETTER  TO  MAURICE.  43 

The  funeral  is  to-morrow.  I  shall  be  of  those  who  go  to 
Campsie.  The  bulk  of  the  company  go  no  farther  than  the 
Infirmary  Square. 

To  Rev.  F.  D.  Maurice. 

Laurel  Bank,  18th  December,  1862. 

My  dear  Mr.  Maurice, — I  have  been  much  with  you  in 
thought  and  sympathy  since  I  have  known  your  recent  triaV 
— a  trial  the  measure  of  which  none  can  estimate  who  have 
not  learned  to  prefer  Jerusalem  above  their  chiefest  joy.  I 
have  asked  myself  whether  I  ought  not  to  write  to  you ;  but 
I  felt  that  I  did  not  know  enough  of  what  special  circum- 
stances may  have  made  this  painful  event  more  painful  to 
you  than  to  myself  and  others,  to  whom  it  is  causing  so  much 
pain,  to  permit  me  to  do  more  than  say  how  much  I  have 
had  you  on  my  heart  before  Him  who  knows  it  all ;  and 
that  I  should  be  enabled  so  to  bear  you  on  my  heart  was 
more  important  than  that  you  should  know  what  I  was  feel- 
ing :  though  true  sympathy  is  helpful  even  as  sympathy, — 
chiefly,  I  believe,  because  it  helps  our  faith  in  the  great 
Fountain  of  Sympathy. 

I  now  write  to  thank  you  for  your  dialogue  on  Family 
Worship.  I  have  read  it  with  much  pleasure, — I  may  say, 
much  "  comfort  of  love  ;"  and  it  has  been  no  small  addition 
to  my  enjoyment  in  it  that  it  permits  me  to  see  some  of  our 
Father's  care  for  you  at  this  time ;  for  you  must  have  been 
proving  in  writing  that  "  the  Spirit  of  truth  "  is  "  the  Com- 
forter," and  the  comfort  He  ministers  "  everlasting  consola- 
tion." 

I  know  little  of  historical  criticism.  In  its  present  state 
it  seems  to  have  its  chief  value  in  being  a  peculiar  and  very 
searching  trial  of  our  faith.  It  may  yet  develop  into  an  aid 
to  faith.     This   I  cannot  doubt  it  must  become  if  it  ever 

^  In  connection  with  the  publication  of  Bishop  Colenso's  book.  See 
above,  page  32. 


44  MEMORIALS,  chap.  x. 

attain  to  what  it  aspires  to,  viz.,  a  true  matter-of-fact  restora- 
tion of  the  past.  But  at  present  it  seems  to  be  simply  a  trial 
to  the  faith  held  on  higher  grounds,  with  which  its  imperfect 
and  fragmentary  results  are  not  seen  to  harmonize  ;  doubt- 
less only  because  they  are  imperfect  and  fragmentary.  But 
what  is  as  yet  adverse  to  our  faith,  whatever  it  may  become, 
is  best  met  by  laying  the  foundations  of  that  faith  more  and 
more  deep :  or  rather,  going  down  into  its  depths,  and 
taking  others  with  us  to  be  comforted  in  seeing  how  it  rests 
on  the  Rock  of  Ages.  This  you  have  done  with  your  Lay- 
man, and  his  comfort  is  uttered  in  the  words — for  which  you 
must  have  given  thanks  in  writing,  as  I  did  in  reading  them 
— "  The  sight  of  my  children,  the  thought  of  what  they  are, 
and  what  they  are  to  be, — yes,  my  friend,  I  must  hope  that 
they  have  a  better  Father  than  I  have  ever  been  or  ever  can 
be  to  them."     .     .     . 

Ever,  dear  Mr.  Maurice,  yours  most  truly, 

John  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  his  Sister. 

RosNEATH  Castle,  21st  January,  1863. 
I  am  now,  the  doctor  says,  "  progressing  daily,"  but  most 
slowly  certainly.  I  am  putting  myself  entirely  in  his  hands, 
and  will  not  move  until  he  pronounces  it  safe.  This  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  both  insisted  on,  with  perfect  truth  of 
interest  in  me  I  most  assuredly  believe.  Their  kindness  has 
been  marvellous,  and  not  to  be  told. 

My  fondest  love  as  of  one  alive  from  the  dead. 

To  his  Niece. 

RosNEATH  Castle,  24th  January,  1863. 
My  loving  Mary, — Yours  has  been  a  large  share  in  what 
we  have  passed  through.     May  your  sharing  in  the  blessing 
which  I  trust  will  come  out  of  it  be  as  large  ! 


1 860-63.  RECO  VER  V  FROM  ILLNESS.  45 

I  am  not  writing  a  letter,  darling,  only  showing  you  and 
Mrs.  Paterson,  and  your  Mary,  and  the  other  dear  ones 
there,  my  hand-writing,  as  telling  of  my  progress, — progress 
back  to  you  all. 

Oh  !  darling  Mary  what  a  mercy  not  to  have  passed  hence 
in  a  mist  and  darkness,  unconscious  to  the  great  event.  Yet 
there  would  have  been  no  darkness  with  Him,  nor  risk  to 
what  has  been  committed  to  His  trust.  I  feel  the  broad 
ground  on  which  Mr.  Maurice  loves  to  place  us  all  very 
precious.  Yet  can  give  special  thanks  for  having  been 
brought  into  the  fellowship  of  the  words,  "  The  Lord,  whose 
I  am  and  whom  I  serve." 

As  to  passing  hence  in  consciousness  rather  than  uncon- 
sciousness, I  have  desired  of  the  Lord  some  fellowship  in 
the  words,  "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit." 


Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  27th  February,  1863. 

My  dearest  Miss  Duncan, — I  write  a  few  lines  to  go  in 
this  cover  for  you.  Your  deep  interest  in  my  illness — as 
well  as  dearest  John's — comforted  me  at  the  time,  and  com- 
forts me  still  when  it  comes  back  on  me ;  as  all  the  deep 
feeling  of  which  I  have  been  the  subject  at  this  time  has 
done,  and  does  :  for  it  all  speaks  to  me  of  the  Eternal  Foun- 
tain of  Love.  "  Of  His  fulness  have  all  we  received."  How 
comforting,  in  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  our  own  hearts,  to 
realize  that  the  ocean  is  ever  full  !  No  form  which  the 
words,  "  God  who  qiiickeneth  the  dead,  and  calleth  those 
things  which  be  not  as  though  they  were,^'  take,  more  fre- 
quently brings  me  help, — needed  help, — than  as  (when  my 
heart  is  cold  and  dead,  and  I  feel  not  to  any  as  I  desire 
to  feel)  the  assurance  that  the  fountain  of  my  life, — of  love 
as  my  life, — remains  with  God.  It  is  no  small  element  in 
the  comfort  of  the  hope,  "  When  I  awake  I  shall  be  satis- 
fied with  thy  likeness,"  that  the  love  which  is  the  likeness 


46  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

hoped  for,  is  love  to  our  brothers  and  sisters,  as  well  as  love 
to  our  Father. 

I  was  much  refreshed  by  your  dear  brother's  visit.  .  .  . 
I  am  sure  signs  of  decay  in  dear  Mrs.  Duncan  must  sadden 
you  in  the  thought  of  the  blank  her  removal  will  cause ; 
though  it  is  "a calm  decay,"  and  I  doubt  not  "peace  divine" 
blends  with  her  natural  happy  temperament. — Your  very 
affectionate  friend, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  25th  February,  1863. 

.  .  .  I  thank  you  for  Clark's  Sermon.^  I  gather  from 
its  tone  that  those  in  the  church  who  claim  and  use  liberty 
of  thought,  at  whatever  point  they  may  individually  stand, 
are  determined  to  show  fight,  and  not  to  recognize  as  legiti- 
mate any  lower  question  than  "What  is  the  truth?"  This 
much  I  see ;  but  not  at  all  that  he  has  accepted  Colenso's 
conclusions,  or  those  of  any  other  inquirer.  He  is  led  away 
by  a  mere  seeming  analogy  when  he  likens  "  articles  of 
faith"  to  "  terms  of  a  treaty  of  peace."  They  are  the  mani- 
festo of  a  party,  not  the  compromise  of  opposing  parties. 
But  this,  the  true  view,  does  not  add  to  their  authority,  which 
never  can  be  more  than  that  of  commentary  by  erring  men, 
giving  their  interpretation  of  Scripture.  It  is  quite  startling, 
after  what  one  has  been  recently  reading,  to  take  up  a  volume 
of  the  holy  men  of  the  last  or  the  previous  century,  and 
meet  texts  of  Scripture  as  quoted  by  them;  that  is,  ever  as 
axioms  (in  whatever  sense  they  understood  them), — axioms 
or  unquestioned  postulates :  and  theoretically,  in  all  that 
is  moral  and  spiritual,  this  authority  would  seem  still  con- 
ceded even  by  those  who  take  exception  in  the  regions  of 

^  A  sermon  preached  by  Mr.  W.  G.  Clark  in  the  Chapel  of  Trinity 
•College,  containing  some  reference  to  Bishop  Colenso's  publications. 


1860-63.  AUTHORITY  OF  SCRIPTURE.  47 

science  and  history.  But  one  feels  that  in  no  region  is  the 
written  word  bowed  to  as  it  was.  Yet  I  trust  that  in  those 
who  are  more  occupied  with  what  they  beheve  than  wdth 
what  they  doubt,  submission  to  the  authority  of  God  may  not 
be  less  than  it  was. 

I  must  not  write  on.  I  felt  the  other  morning,  in  reading 
an  Epistle  which  I  had  not  read  for  some  time,  all  its  living 
truth  and  divine  love  freshly  affecting  me,  and  yet  as  what  I 
had  felt  before;  and,  in  reference  to  something  that  had  been 
urged  as  lowering  its  claim  on  faith,  I  felt  as  one  does  when 
with  an  old  friend,  against  whom  something  has  been 
speciously  said  in  his  absence,  to  which  the  heart  can  give 
no  place  in  his  presence.  ...  I  am  now  out  daily  and 
superintending  gardening,  though  not  yet  handling  the 
spade,  or  even  the  hoe  or  rake. 

To  Mr.  Erskine. 
Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  2nd  March,  1S63. 

My  very  dear  Brother, — I  have  delayed  long  thanking 
you  for  your  two  letters, — your  letter  to  my  wife,  and  your 
letter  to  myself.  Your  seasonable  words  to  her  were,  I 
believe,  very  helpful  to  her ;  beside  the  help  that  is  in  all 
sympathy  ;  and  I  ought  to  find  your  realization  of  the  Lord's 
dealing  with  me  a  help  to  my  own  realization  of  it.  This 
has  come  only  gradually.  Indeed  it  has  only  been  since  I 
have  been  better  that  I  have  learned  how  ill  I  had  been.  I 
have  by  this  time  had  much  deepening  of  old  lessons ;  and 
some  new  apprehensions  also  of  our  Father's  love ;  and  of 
the  faith  which  honours  that  love  most.  It  is  a  large  faith,  as 
to  all  things ;  giving  strength  to  "  be  still  and  know  that  He 
is  God." 

I  am  thankful  that  dear  Mrs.  Stirling  is  left  with  you  still 
for  a  season.  I  have  no  doubt  you  have  personally  felt  it 
sparing  mercy.     And  it  is  so,  though  not  in  the  same  mea- 


48  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

sure,  to  many,  who  will  feel  her  removal  a  blank  and  a  loss. 
Please  remember  me  m  love  to  her.  It  may  be  long  before 
I  see  her  ;  but  I  have  comfort  in  thinking  of  her  as  still  in  her 
own  place  in  your  dear  circle.  Unless  your  way  is  ordered 
to  the  West  I  may  be  long  before  I  see  you  either  ;  as  liberty 
to  leave  home  seems  indefinitely  distant. 

After  having  it  beside  me  for  some  weeks  unread,  I  have 
this  last  week  ventured  to  read  Bishop  Colenso's  Part  II.  I 
shrunk  from  the  pain  I  believed  it  would  cause  to  me,  and 
was  waiting  to  be  physically  stronger. 

The  conclusion  that  we  are  to  be  contented,  in  exchange 
for  the  "  cloud  of  witnesses,"  to  possess  a  series  of  parables, 
is  too  dreadful.  The  first  that  we  are  allowed  to  know  as  a 
real  man  is  Samuel;  and  the  work  ascribed  to  him,  if  wonderful 
as  a  work  of  art,  must  still  revolt  as  a  pious  fraud.  Yet  even 
as  a  work  of  art,  the  understanding  of  the  details  of  the 
Exodus,  which  is  here  assumed  to  be  the  true  one,  implies  a 
supposing  of  impossibilities,  and  a  stating  of  them  as  facts,  to 
a  degree  that  no  writer  of  fiction,  with  even  much  less  mind 
than  is  ascribed  to  Samuel,  could  have  fallen  into.  What- 
ever the  true  history  of  the  Pentateuch  may  prove  to  be,  I 
feel  that  which  Bishop  Colenso  offers  as  his  hypothesis  in- 
credible. 

I  have  gone  beyond  my  tether  (one  sheet),  and  will  stop. 
With  many  thanks  for  all  your  inquiries  about  me  and  the 
course  of  my  illness,  and  all  the  untold  thoughts  of  loving 
interest  which  were  thus  partially  expressed, — I  am  ever 
your  very  affectionate  brother, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  24th  March,  1863. 
.     .     .     I  am  very  glad  that  you  were  at  Edinburgh  on 
the  loth.     Your  feeling  about  the  nation's  strongly  expressed 
fellowship  in  the  joy  of  the  Royal  Family  has  been  quite  my 


1860-63.      STANLEY'S  ''JEWISH  CHURCH."  49 

own  ;  and,  in  connection  with  the  previous  sympathy  in  their 
sorrow,  is  indeed  a  most  pleasant  outcoming  of  the  national 
unity  and  life.  I  was  glad  to  see  an  expression  of  some 
appreciation  of  it  in  some  of  the  French  papers. 

.  .  .  I  have  at  present  Dr.  Stanley's  "  Jewish  Church," 
which  I  am  reading  with  much  interest.  This  volume  begins 
with  Abraham,  and  comes  down  to  Samuel.  I  am  thank- 
ful for  the  firm  hold  of  the  great  facts  which  it  indicates, 
written  as  it  has  been  since  Dr.  Colenso's  disturbing  of  men's 
minds.  At  the  same  time,  in  his  conception  of  Abraham's 
offering  of  Isaac  he  seems  to  accept  Mr.  Maurice's  view ;  and 
otherwise  indicates  a  welcome  for  all  that  lessens  the  de- 
mand for  the  faith  of  the  supernatural ;  while  he  is  very  far 
from  withholding  that  faith  altogether.  My  own  feeling  is 
that,  the  supernatural  being  once  recognized  as  having  a 
place  in  the  dealing  of  God  with  man,  we  ought  to  have  no 
leaning  one  way  or  other,  but  be  open  to  evidence  as  to  facts 
in  every  individual  case.  I  think  you  will  find  this  volume 
pleasant  and  profitable  reading. 

To  the  Same. 

[April  or  May,  1863.] 

.  .  .  I  am  sending  for  your  perusal,  by  the  same  post 
with  this,  a  publication  by  my  friend,  the  Vicar  of  St,  Mar- 
tin's, Leicester,  which  he  has  sent  to  me,  and  which  will 
interest  you.     Its  tone  is  solemn,  and  its  feeling  deep. 

I  have  just  read  David  Elginbrod,  by  the  author  of  Within 
and  Without.  Its  aim  is  the  highest  teaching,  and  I  trust  it 
will  be  profitable  to  many.  From  how  many  sides  do  we 
hear  voices  uttering  free  thought  on  the  large  hope  for  man 
that  is  in  God  !  I  have  just  had  sent  me  by  a  friend  whom 
I  may  have  mentioned  to  you,  Mr.  Dunn,  of  the  Borough- 
road  School  (but  he  has  now  retired),  a  book  in  two  volumes 
on    The   Destiny   of  the  Human  Race,  which,  though  not 

VOL.  II.  D 


50  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

teaching  "  Universalism,"  which  he  disclaims,  still  argues 
from  the  Scripture  in  favour  of  the  hope  of  a  largely  extended 
salvation,  beyond  the  comparatively  small  flock  of  the  elect 
saved  in  this  dispensation.  Norman  M'Leod  was  surprised 
lately  in  England  with  the  freedom  of  thought  on  this  sub- 
ject which  he  met  in  some  Evangelical  Dissenters  of 
considerable  mark.     .     .     . 


To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  5th  May,  1863. 

I  have  not  seen  much  of  Nomian  for  a  long  time.  His 
time  is  so  very  full  when  at  home,  and  he  has  been  often 
away  besides.  But  he  came  down  last  Friday,  and  he  was 
some  hours  with  me.  Had  you  been  in  England  you  would 
probably  know  fully  the  coarse  attack  or  series  of  attacks  on 
Good  Words  by  the  Record  newspaper.  I  only  know  what  it 
has  been  by  report.  I  asked  Norman  to  send  the  numbers 
of  the  Record  to  me,  but  he  did  not ;  thinking  they  would 
only  vex  me  for  no  purpose. 

I  see  the  Free  Church  people  have  also  been  stamping 
Good  Words  with  condemnation,  on  the  absurd  ground  that 
the  matter  in  it,  professedly  a  magazine  "  for  all  the  week,"  is 
not  exclusively  Sunday  reading. 

I  see  in  the  Times  of  yesterday  a  well-merited  censure  of 
Dr.  Candlish,  and  of  the  Free  Church  Assembly  which 
heard  him  without  protest,  for  his  "  impertinent  and  unfeel- 
ing "  attack  on  the  inscription  on  the  monument  to  the  Prince 
Consort  at  Balmoral,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  "a  quotation 
from  an  Apocryphal  Book  "  {Wisdom,  iv.  13,  14).  My  Mary 
and  I  of  course  immediately  remembered  the  comfort  which 
the  application  of  the  passage  to  beloved  Campbell  had 
given  to  you;  and  we  felt  that  though  Dr.  Candlish  had 
sought  to  guard  himself  by  saying  he  regarded  the  selection 
as  "  the  deed  of  the  Broad  Church  clergy  about  her,"  it  has 


1 860-63.  INS P IRA  TION  NO  T  VERBAL.  5 1 

most  probably  been  her  own  selection,  embodying  as  the 
words  do  her  own  estimate  of  her  husband. 


To  Mr.  Erskine. 

Laurel  Bank,  26th  May,  1863. 

My  beloved  Friend, — Your  letter  was  most  welcome; 
and  I  have  desired  to  write  to  you  ever  since  I  had,  through 
it,  some  communion  with  you ;  feeling  that  no  other  inter- 
change of  thought  or  feeling  with  you  seems  now  to  remain 
to  me.  Yet  I  trust  we  have  communion  when  we  are 
present  to  each  other's  minds  in  association  with  those 
views  of  our  God,  and  His  ways,  as  to  which  we,  in  measure, 
see  eye  to  eye,  and  in  which  we  rejoice  together.  Two 
words  of  Scripture,  whose  drawing  seems  to  be  in  different 
directions,  often  appear  to  me  to  press  on  you  and  on  me 
severally:  your  word  being  "Forgetting  the  things  which  are 
behind,  and  stretching  forth  to  things  still  before;"  mine 
being  "  Hold  fast  the  beginning  of  your  confidence."  I  am 
quoting  from  memory,  and  in  so  doing  risk  offending  my 
friend. 

As  to  ordering  of  words,  and  selection  of  words,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  great  question  of  the  day, — I  mean  "  Inspira- 
tion,"— I  have  been  feeling  two  facts  to  be  very  teaching : — 
ist,  the  quoting  from  the  Septuagint  by  the  Apostle;  and 
2nd,  the  necessary  dependence  upon  translations  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  readers  of  the  Scriptures.  Are  we  not 
taught  by  these  facts  that  the  responsibility  connected  with 
the  possession  of  Revelation  turns  upon  the  substantive 
truth  revealed, — not  on  the  precise  words  in  which  it  is  con- 
veyed ? 

[After  referring  to  some  letters,  which  Mr.  Erskine  had 
forwarded  to  him,  on  the  subject  of  spiritual  gifts :]  I 
remain  still  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  that  consciousness 
which  those  have  known  who  have  been  yielded  to  the 


52  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

power  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  which  clearly  was  not  of  the  same 
nature  with  our  obedience  of  faith  in  the  light  of  truth, 
because  often  (as  when  a  man  spoke  in  a  tongue,  his  under- 
standing being  unfruitful)  there  could  be  no  discernment  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  matter  which  was  the  subject  of  the 
utterance,  which  could  be  his  warrant  for  being  sure  that,  in 
uttering  it,  he  was  yielding  himself  to  the  Spirit  of  God. 
The  gift  of  tongues,  disjoined  from  that  of  interpretation,  is 
the  strongest  case :  but  in  regard  to  other  gifts  there  is,  in 
the  record  of  them  and  of  their  manifestation,  what  separates 
between  the  consciousness,  whatever  it  was,  which  gave  the 
certainty  that  the  power  yielded  to  was  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
our  experience  in  being  taught  of  God  and  seeing  Hght  in 
His  light. 

The  present  interest  of  this  subject  to  me  is  not  what  it 

was  in  the  time  to  which 's  letter  takes  us  back ;  ^  when 

I  was  anxiously  considering  what  practical  obligation  utter- 
ances such  as  we  were  hearing,  assuming  their  divine 
source,  brought  to  me;  or  what  direct  intimation  must  come 
to  myself  from  the  same  source  to  seal  them,  in  order  to 
justify  action  on  thevi.  I  waited  for  what  I  never  got; — that 
which  dear  Irving  went  on  without  getting,  esteeming  his 
doing  so  to  be  faith  in  God  :  and  what  of  rightness  of  heart 
towards  God  there  was  in  this  we  know  not :  but,  whatever 
its  measure,  it  cannot  have  been  forgotten  with  God. 

But  the  present  interest  of  this  subject  to  me  is  the  dis- 
tinction (which  assumes  always  more  and  more  importance 
to  my  mind)  between  the  special  acting  of  the  Divine  Spirit 

^  This  refers  to  the  speaking  "with  tongues,"  or  "  in  the  power, " 
which  first  attracted  attention  at  Port-Glasgow  in  the  spring  of  1830. 
For  particulars  with  reference  to  what  took  place  at  that  time,  see 
Memoirs  of  fames  and  George  Macdonald  of  Port-Glasgow.  By  Robert 
Norton,  M.D.  London  :  John  F.  Shaw,  1840.  See  also  the  Lives  of 
Story  and  Inking.  An  instance  of  speaking  "  in  the  power"  has  been 
mentioned  above,  vol.  L,  p.  125. 


i86o-6i.  DIVINE  COMMUNICATIONS. 


IZ 


in  the  revelation  of  truth  not  previously  revealed  to  men, 
and  His  acting  in  enabling  us  to  apprehend  that  truth, 
and  to  advance  in  its  light  and  the  life  which  it  feeds.  To 
explain  experiences  in  the  early  Church  which  we  have  not, 
I  must  assume  an  acting  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  which  we 
know  nothing.  No  explanation  seems  adequate  which 
admits  not — rather,  assumes  not — that  God  can — and  when 
it  seemeth  good  to  Him  does — give  the  human  spirit  to 
know  His  own  presence,  and  His  own  touch,  otherwise  than 
in  that  highest  way  which  is  communion  with  Himself  in  the 
light  of  life.  This,  which  the  record  of  Christianity  as  pre- 
sented in  the  Church  at  Corinth  obliges  us  to  believe  as  to 
what  are  smaller  matters,  the  whole  record  of  Revelation 
seems  to  me  to  teach  as  to  those  great  events  in  the  history 
of  intercourse  between  God  and  men  which  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  receive  as  "Divine  Revelation;"  viz.,  a 
knowledge  of  being  spoken  to  by  the  Living  God  which  was 
not  an  inference  from  the  nature  of  that  which  God  spake, — 
a  knowledge  common  to  Balaam  and  Jonah  with  Moses  and 
Samuel,  and  distinct  from  all  communion  in  the  word  that 
came  to  them.  What  this  was  I  know  not,  and  may  never 
know ;  while  I  bless  God  that  what  is  other  than  this,  and 
more  to  be  desired  than  this,  I  in  measure  do  know;  as  the 
least  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  greater  than  he  than 
whom  no  greater  prophet  had  then  been. 

This  is  a  long  letter — very  long  for  me ;  but  I  know  not 
when  we  may  meet;  and,  with  the*thought  of  writing  to  you, 

and   in   connection   with   's   letter,    this   thought   has 

pressed  for  some  mention.  What  we  seek  to  know  is, 
surely,  the  actual  fact  as  to  what  our  God  does  in  the 
earth,  of  which  we  may  not  make  our  own  experience  the 
measure ;  while  we  cannot  be  too  thankful  for  that  clear 
consciousness  of  seeing  light  in  God's  light  which  may  be 
our  temptation  to  do  so. 


54  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  June,  1863. 

I  know  the  special  sweetness  to  the  heart  of  all  expres- 
sions of  interest  in  a  beloved  parent,  however  little  others, 
even  the  nearest,  outside  the  family  circle,  can  know  him  as 
those  do  who  are  within  that  circle.  But  my  experience  has 
been  of  testimonies  to  a  father  whose  love  radiated  very 
widely,  and  in  that  form  of  general  benevolence  and  sym- 
pathy with  his  kind  which  is  most  assured  of  a  response. 
How  beautiful  the  Rosneath  woods  and  walks  must  be 
when  what  in  this  kind  Laurel  Bank  can  show  is  so 
beautiful  as  your  mother  and  I  saw  it  in  our  walk  last 
evening. 

The  change  from  leafless  branches  to  rich  foliage  would 
feel  to  you  as  the  shadow  of  that  which  you  knew  within — 
the  desolation  which  came  with  the  sense  of  threatened 
bereavement,  and  the  fresh  life  which  sparing  mercy  has 
granted.     .     .     . 

To  Mrs.  Campbell. 

LiNLATHEN,    14th   AugUSt,   1863. 

...  I  went  with  Mr.  Erskine  to  drive  to  a  neighbour's 
a  good  many  miles  away,  where  he  was  going  to  see  a  young 
man  in  consumption.  We  had  a  delightful  day,  and  a  good 
deal  of  conversation,  rfe  is  very  full,  as  has  ever  been  his 
way,  of  the  thoughts  which  have  last  taken  form  in  his 
mind,  and  would  bend  everything  to  them ;  and  my  work  as 
of  old  has  been  the  endeavour  to  keep  before  him  what  he 
may  seem  to  me  to  leave  out  of  account.  As  to  his  personal 
life,  I  never  felt  his  prayers  more  real,  or  more  what  I  could 
join  in;  and  his  reading  is  almost  an  exposition  from  the 
living  sense  of  what  he  reads  with  which  he  utters  the 
words;    but  he  has  not  expounded.      This   is  his  family 


1860-63.  REMEMBERED  HOPES.  55 

worship  with  the  household ;  but  after  breakfast,  when 
Mrs.  Stirhng  joins  us,  the  psalms  and  chapters  for  the 
morning  of  the  day  are  read  in  the  drawing-room  (by  Miss 
Dundas),  and  we  close  the  day  at  night  about  ten  by  read- 
ing in  the  same  way  the  psalms  and  chapters  for  the  evening. 
Then  the  rest  go  to  their  rooms,  and  he  and  I  remain  till 
eleven,  or  a  little  after.  He  is  more  vigorous  than  I  have 
seen  him  for  long,  and  his  mind  is  fresh  and  active,  clearly 
grasping  and  clearly  expressing  the  present  thought. 


Hunter's  Quay,  August  25th,  1863. 

I  have  just  been  letting  my  eye  rest  on  Rosneath  over 
opposite  me,  and  the  hilltop  which  I  crossed  with  Mr.  Story 
in  1825,  later  in  the  autumn.  T  remember  the  day,  I  had 
been  with  him  to  see  on  this  side  "  the  back  of  Rosneath," 
an  old  woman  whose  proper  language  was  Gaelic ;  and  he 
had  enjoyed  her  enjoyment  in  my  conversation  with  her  in 
her  own  tongue.  On  our  return  we  sat  some  time  on  the 
brow  of  the  hill  on  the  other  side,  towards  Row,  then  still  a 
blank  page  to  me.  We  sat  a  while  looking  across  the  Gare- 
loch,  a  bright  rainbow  spanning  the  Row — a  bright  promise 
to  my  hopeful  young  heart,  in  which  an  infant  faith  took  the 
form  of  hope,  all  the  more  easily  that  it  knew  not  itself  to 
be  a  young  soldier  for  whom  battles  were  in  store,  and  who 
could  know  success  only  as  victory. 

What  solemn  lines  were  afterwards  traced  on  that  blank, 
then  of  inviting  whiteness  !  What  solemn  lines  on  other 
pages  since  Row  became  the  past  to  me  !  What  solemn 
lines  remain  to  be  traced  on  the  still  blank  future  !  This  a 
maturer  faith  feels — forbidding  unmixed  anticipations  such 
as  interpreted  that  bright  rainbow  thirty-eight  years  ago. 
But  the  anchor  sure  and  steadfast  entering  within  the  veil 
holds  now,  not  less  but  more  firmly,  with  a  deep  sense  of 
secure  peace  even  in  the  thought  of  unknown  strains  upon 


56  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

it— strains  anticipated  in  a  deeper  understanding  of  the 
words,  "Through  much  tribulation  we  must  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

To  Miss  Duncan. 
Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  29th  September,  1863. 

I  wish  I  could  express  in  a  few  plain  words  my  reasons 
for  regarding  what  is  called  "  Spiritualism "  as  forbidden 
ground.  My  chief  reason  is  that  it  is  taking  to  itself  the 
place  of  religion,  and  of  that  anchor  of  the  soul  which  enters 
into  that  which  is  within  the  veil.  This  it  does,  although  it 
does  not  professedly  substitute  the  teaching  supposed  to  be 
received  from  the  spirits  of  the  departed  for  the  teaching  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  But,  without  professing  to  do  this,  it 
absorbs  to  itself  the  interest  which  the  Invisible  has  for  us, 
feeding  that  interest  with  assumed  communications  which  do 
nothing  for  us,  as  spiritual  beings,  whose  life  is  in  the  favour 
of  God, — to  whom  Christ  is  the  way  to  the  Father,  and  who 
know  Christ  only  as  the  Holy  Spirit  takes  of  the  things  of 
Christ  and  shows  them  to  us. 

Mercifully  there  is  enough  on  the  very  surface  of  this  new 
thing  to  make  men  pause,  who  feel  that  they  are  accountable 
to  God  for  their  choice  of  guides  and  teachers.  If  thus 
accountable  as  to  the  place  we  allow  to  men  in  flesli  and 
blood,  whose  claims  on  our  confidence  we  can  test  in  so 
many  ways,  how  can  it  be  safe  or  right  to  accept  guidance 
which  we  cannot  test  ?  The  seeming  warrant  for  confidence 
offered  by  the  names  assumed  is  vain,  inasmuch  as  the 
spirits  (if  spirits  be  present)  may  be  lying  spirits,  who 
personate  friends  whom  we  are  prepared  to  trust.  This 
objection  is,  I  say,  on  the  very  surface,  because  the  mutual 
contradictions  of  the  supposed  spirits  show  that  some  at  least 
are  false ;  and  this  is  admitted ;  but  if  some,  then  may  it  not 
be  all  ?    We  cannot  tell. 


1860-63.  SPIRITUALISM.  57 

It  is  also  fitted  to  deter  us,  that  we  see  that  the  intercourse 
held  with  these  assumed  visitants  is  idle  and  unprofitable, — 
its  great  interest  being  the  mai-vel  of  the  thing.  None  are 
made  wiser  or  better  by  it,  even  according  to  the  ordinary 
low  standard  of  wisdom  and  goodness.  No  doubt  there  is 
much  social  intercourse  which  is  liable  to  the  same  objection ; 
but  the  foolishness  and  emptiness  of  men's  talk  is  not  asso- 
ciated with  the  invisible  and  the  eternal,  so  as  to  lessen  the 
solemnity  of  religious  thought. 

Some  spirituaHsts  have  said  to  me  that  "they  judge  the 
teachings  of  spirits  as  they  would  those  of  men  still  in  the 
body ;  receiving  only  what  approves  itself  to  them  as  true." 
This  independent  attitude  of  mind  I  believe  few  will  be  able 
to  retain  in  the  presence  of  spirits  coming  from  the  invisible, 
in  which  so  much  is  assumed  to  be  known  that  is  still  hid 
from  us ;  although,  if  God  called  us  to  meetings  with  such 
spirits,  we  might  trust  to  be  enabled  by  Him  to  "try  the 
spirits  whether  they  were  of  God."  But,  in  point  of  fact, 
who  among  those  who  are  occupied  with  Spiritualism  can 
claim  to  be  thus  exercising  discernment  of  spirits  ?  As  to 
those  to  whom  I  refer  as  thinking  their  own  discernment  a 
sufficient  security,  their  case  was  certainly  one  to  warn  us  ; 
for  doctrines  were  received  by  them  on  the  authority  of  spirits 
which  we  know  to  be  untrue,  and  which  they  themselves 
would  at  one  time  have  rejected;  as,  for  example,  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  only  a  mesmeric  or  electric  power  ! 

I  felt  little  doubt  that,  had  the  same  teaching  met  them  in 
a  book,  and  without  the  prestige  of  a  communication  from 
the  invisible,  it  would  have  been  at  once  rejected.  But 
there  was  a  fatal,  though  it  might  be  an  unconscious,  bowing 
before  the  spirits.  At  this  we  cannot  wonder;  we  might 
expect  it.  How  difficult  do  we  find  it,  even  when  our 
teachers  are  before  our  eyes, — men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves,  with  none  of  the  prestige  of  spirits, — to  keep  the 
ear  of  our  inner  man  open  to  the  teaching  of  the  Holy 


58  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

Spirit,  proving  all  things  to  hold  fast  only  that  which  is 
good. 

Dear  friend,  let  us  seek  to  avail  ourselves  more  and  more 
of  the  promise  of  the  Comforter,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  is 
to  guide  us  to  all  truth.  What,  as  spirits  who  desire  to  be 
at  home  in  the  universe,  and  not  in  this  visible  world  only, 
it  is  important  for  us  to  know.  He,  and  He  alone,  can  teach 
us.  Taught  by  Him,  we  are  in  light  which  is  light  alike  for 
time  and  for  eternity.  Untaught  by  Him,  we  are  without  the 
light  that  is  light  for  eternity;  nay,  indeed,  without  the  light 
that  alone  is  true  light  even  for  time ;  as  Christ  says,  "  I  am 
the  light  of  the  world." 

And  considering  that  our  legitimate  and  intended  inter- 
course with  the  invisible  is  communion  with  the  Father,  and 
the  Son,  in  the  Spirit,  and  that  to  that  communion  all  are 
called,  yet  that  so  few  seek  it — and  these  few  so  interruptedly 
— this  dealing  with  spirits,  and  men's  rejoicing  as  in  a  new 
gospel  in  the  thought  of  it,  is  to  me  awfully  like  the  history 
of  those  who,  not  choosing  to  retain  the  knowledge  of  God 
in  their  hearts,  were  given  up  to  strong  delusion,  that  they 
should  believe  a  lie. 

I  have  desired  to  be  brief,  yet  here  is  a  long  letter.  I 
hope  I  have  been  more  successful  in  the  endeavour  to  be 
plain. 

To  his  Eldest  Sox. 

Laurel  Bank,  i8th  October,  1863. 

.  .  .  Yesterday  was  rather  a  full  day  with  me.  I  went 
in  early  to  Norman's,  getting  to  him  before  eleven,  and 
found  J.  Shairp  with  him.  I  sat  with  them  in  Norman's 
smoking-room  for  more  than  two  hours,  talking  of  many 
things,  all  of  serious  interest.  I  like  Shairp,  and  I  am 
thinking  of  (some  time  hence)  availing  -myself  of  his  kind 
and  very  pressing  invitation  to  visit  him  at  St.  Andrews.     I 


1860-63.  THE  BISHOP  OF  OXFORD.  59 

had  to  come  home  to  meet  Mrs.  Finlayson  and  Mrs.  Maxwell, 
who  were  to  come  here  to  lunch.  I  was  to  dine  at  Jordan- 
hill,  to  meet  Dr.  Howson,^  who,  you  know,  was  the  Duke's 
tutor.  I  had  a  very  pleasant  evening:  some  conversation 
with  Dr.  Howson,  whom  I  had  met  twice  before,  but 
never  to  have  much  conversation ;  and  a  good  deal  with 
Archy  Smith. 

Both  the  morning  and  evening  conversation  had  a  Church 
of  England  interest,  which  is  a  growing  interest  to  m.e,  partly, 
doubtless,  through  you,  but  also  because  it  is  the  portion  of 
the  Church  to  which  I  turn  with  most  comfort.  I  had,  from 
our  neighbour  Mr.  Cairns,  the  Mancliester  Guardian,  with 
the  full  report  of  the  Church  Congress  at  Manchester.  I 
had  also  read  the  Bishop  of  Oxford's  speech  on  Christian 
Missions.  The  pecuniary  position  of  the  English  Church 
may  well  test  the  purity  of  desire  for  the  ministry  of  those 
who  seek  to  minister  in  it.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford's  speech 
Avill  be  felt  to  be  weighty,  although  there  is  a  great  flaw  to 
my  mind  in  the  argument  from  the  place  which  miracles  had 
at  the  beginning,  to  the  use  which  he  proposes  we  should 
make  of  the  prestige  of  civilization.  Not  that  we  have  not 
a  certain  power,  and  do  not  come  under  a  certain  responsi- 
bility, because  of  that  prestige,  but  that  the  claim  to  attention 
to  his  message,  in  the  case  of  one  working  a  miracle  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  is  essentially  different  from  any  claim  which 
our  steam-engines  or  railroads  confer  on  us.  A  miracle  is 
fitted  to  command  attention,  but  it  is  also  itself  a  preaching 
of  Christ.  He  who  says  "  In  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
rise  up  and  walk"  with  effect,  presents  the  Gospel  with  an 
evidence  which  rightly  becomes  an  element  in  the  hearer's 
faith  j  although  the  answer  to  the  Gospel  in  conscience  is 
the  highest  and  ultimate  evidence. 

I  expected  to  find  the  Bishop  indeed  making  more  rather 
than  less  account  of  miracles  as  grounds  of  faith.     But  it 
^  Now  Dean  of  Chester. 


6o  MEMORIALS.  chap.  x. 

would  not  be  a  fair  conclusion  to  infer  that  he  reduced 
miracles  to  the  level  of  that  which  he  says  we  are  now  to 
look  to,  to  command  the  attention  of  the  heathen,  although 
he  urges  the  responsibility  of  using  for  the  cause  of  Christ 
the  vantage  which  we  have. 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  loth  December,  1863. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  answer  your  question  sooner. 

Colenso  both  maintains  that  portions  of  the  Pentateuch 
in  which  "Jehovah"  occurs  cannot  be  older  than  the 
making  of  that  name  known  to  Moses,  as  now  for  the  first 
revealed  to  Israel :  and,  besides,  that  this  incident  itself  is 
a  fiction,  because  the  real  introducer  of  that  name  was 
Samuel,  who  feigned  this  story  to  gain  it  acceptance.  As 
to  the  first  point,  I  do  not  clearly  see  the  answer ;  that  is, 
I  do  not  see  why  Moses,  in  recording  incidents  of  the 
Patriarchal  period,  should  not  have  preserved  what  would 
be  called  a  dramatic  consistency  in  the  use  of  words.  It 
may  be  that,  if  these  incidents  were  handed  down  by 
tradition,  and  embodied  in  Genesis,  they  may  have  had 
one  name  for  God  substituted  for  another,  after  both  had 
become  familiar.  But  I  rather  think  that  both  names  existed 
as  names  before  the  time  of  Moses,  and  that  what  was  a  neiv 
thing  was  the  special  use  of  Jehovah  as  the  national  name 
for  God,  when  the  nation  was  being  separated  to  the 
Lord.i 

But  what  I  referred  to  in  my  letter  had  reference  to  the 

^  This  view  agrees  with  the  opinion  of  the  distinguished  Dutch  critic, 
Dr.  A.  Kuenen,  of  Leyden,  who  says  :  "In  all  probability  the  name 
'  Jahveh '  was  already  in  use,  among  however  limited  a  circle,  before 
Moses  employed  it  to  indicate  El-Shaddai,  the  god  of  the  sons  of 
Israel." — See  The  Religion  of  Israel,  vol.  I.,  p.  280,  of  the  translation 
published  by  Williams  and  Norgate,  1874. 


1860-63.  COLENSO'S  HYPOTHESIS.  61 

second  point,  viz.,  his  ascribing  the  introduction  of  the  name 
Jehovah  to  Samuel.  The  argument  for  this  turned  chiefly 
on  the  Psalms  :  and  what  I  found  in  the  review  that  agreed 
with  what  had  occurred  to  myself,  was  that  "  Elohim  "  was 
the  name  of  God  as  God,  or  Deity;  that  "Jehovah"  was 
His  name  as  the  God  of  the  children  of  Israel.  As  to  the 
assumption  of  David's  having  known  the  name  of  "  Elohim" 
alone  at  the  time  of  his  earher  psalms,  and  that  of  "  Jehovah" 
later,  having  been  taught  the  use  of  it  by  Samuel,  the  fact 
that  David's  sister,  Joab's  mother,  Zeruiah,  is  admitted  to 
have  "Jehovah"  in  the  composition  of  her  name,  implies 
that  that  name  was  held  in  honour  in  Jesse's  family  before 
David  was  born,  and  therefore  that  he  must  have  known  it 
from  his  childhood.  My  idea  is  (but  I  have  not  proved  it 
by  any  analysis  of  the  psalms  in  detail  with  reference  to  it), 
that  the  name  which  calls  upon  God  just  as  God  would  pre- 
vail in  psalms  of  the  nature  oi  individual pj-ayer  ;  while  the 
national  name  would  prevail  more  in  psalms  meant  for 
public  worship  and  the  expression  of  national  feeling,  such 
as  David  the  king  had  more  occasion  to  compose.  But 
these  two  names  are  used  too  interchangeably — I  mean  both 
in  the  same  psalm — to  permit  much  to  be  built  on  their  use; 
and  so,  both  being  known,  they  would  naturally  be.  Nothing 
is  more  marvellous  than  the  superstructure  built  by  Bishop 
Colenso  on  this  narrow  foundation  of  a  preponderance  of 
the  one  name  in  the  later  psalms,  unless  it  be  the  conception 
of  a  pious  fraud  by  Samuel  to  facilitate  the  introduction  of  a 
new  name.     .     . 


62 


CHAPTER    XI. 
1864-1866. 

Introductory — Letters  from  January,  1864,  to  February,  1866 — Kenan's 
Life  of  yesus — Irving's  views  of  Baptism—  Bishop  Butler  and  the 
Supernatural — Visits  to  Polloc — Mr.  Vaughan's  Christian  Evi- 
deuces — Dr.  Purey's  Eirenicon — The  Sabbath  Controversy — Death 
of  Mr.  A.  J.  Scott. 

The  letters  of  these  years  require  very  little  explanation. 
They  record  the  interest  with  which  Mr.  Campbell  watched 
the  course  of  theological  thought  in  the  country.  Although 
the  "commotion"  of  the  preceding  three  years  had  now 
somewhat  subsided,  the  questions  which  had  been  started 
continued  to  engage  attention,  and  to  press  for  solution. 
Amongst  the  new  books  which  Mr.  Campbell  read  about 
this  time  were  —  Renan's  Vie  de  Jesus,  the  Life  of 
Frederick  Robertsoji,  and  Dr.  Pusey's  Eirenicon.  At  the 
end  of  1865  the  "Sabbath  Controversy,"  which  resulted 
from  Dr.  Macleod's  speech  in  the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow, 
caused  great  excitement  in  Scotland ;  and  Mr.  Campbell's 
feelings  with  regard  to  it  are  expressed  in  his  letters. 

As  regards  his  personal  history :  he  had  a  tedious  illness 
during  the  summer  of  1864,  which  for  a  time  prevented  him 
from  writing  anything.  In  1865  his  eldest  son  was  ordained 
deacon  by  the  Bishop  of  London ;  and  his  second  son  went  to 
India  in  the  autumn  in  the  Bombay  Civil  Service. 


1864-66.         BIGOTRY  OF  THE  HETERODOX.  di^ 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Helensburgh,  20th  January,  1864. 

.  .  .  I  have  about  finished  the  article  ^  on  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible.  It  is  solemn  reading  to  me. 
Whether  I  would  feel  it  more  or  less  so  were  I  more  in- 
formed myself  on  the  questions  touched,  I  cannot  say. 
Less,  of  course,  if  I  knew  a  satisfactory  reply  to  all  that  I 
am  unable  to  harmonize  with  my  present  faith  as  to  the 
Scriptures ;  or,  at  all  events,  if  that  faith  must  be  modified, 
if  I  felt  able  to  harmonize  such  modification  of  my 
views  of  Scripture  with  the  fact  of  their  having  been  the 
channel  of  the  highest  truth  to  me.  But  if  neither  be 
possible  for  me,  I  shall  not  feel  the  less  assured  that  the 
second,  at  least,  of  these  alternatives  is  possible  in  itself; 
and  I  can  wait  God's  time  for  light  to  make  it  practi- 
cable for  me.  The  chief  gain  of  receiving  such  light  now 
would  be  the  power  it  would  give  of  dealing  helpfully  with 
the  difficulties  of  other  minds.  As  to  the  tone  of  the  article, 
its  assumption  is  certainly  repulsive  :  the  "  light  of  the  day  " 
means  what  has  satisfied  the  writer.  It  puts  me  too  much  in 
mind  of  what  I  was  familiar  with  forty-seven  years  ago.  Then 
the  question  was,  not.  What  is  Scripture  ?  either  as  to  genuine- 
ness or  authenticity;  but,  What  does  Scripture,  assuming  it  to 
be  both  genuine  and  authentic,  teach?  And  I  was  much 
with  men," — Arians  and  Unitarians  of  different  shades, — who 
thought  themselves  in  advance  of  the  holders  of  what  was 
called  the  Orthodox  creed, :  and  I  remember,  that  whatever 
the  individual  had  come  to  receive,  as  a  more  enlightened 
creed,  was  spoken  of  as  ih.Q  point  already  reached.  I  remember 
owing  much  then  to  the  effect  of  the  bigotry  of  the  Heterodox, 

^  An  article  in  the  IVestniinster  Review. 

-  This  refers  to  intercourse  with  fellow-students  of  Glasgow,  many  of 
whom  were  English  Nonconformists.     See  vol.  I.,  p.  4. 


64  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

as  making  me  pause  when  the  bigotry  of  the  Orthodox  almost 
threw  me  upon  them  (the  Heterodox)  as  probably  thinking 
more  truly  because  more  freely. 

The  trial  of  the  day  into  which  you  have  been  bom  is 
different  from  that  of  my  day.  Whether  you  feel  the  con- 
fidence of  such  writers  as  this  reviewer  inspiring  confidence, 
or  are  put  on  your  guard  by  it,  I  do  not  know ;  while  I  would 
be  thankful  that  it  had  the  latter  effect. 

There  is  much  reason  in  what  you  say  in  one  of  your 
letters  as  to  the  relative  responsibility  of  Colenso  and  those 
who  condemn  him  for  so  much  of  the  disquiet  he  is  causing 
as  may  be  referred  to  error  in  men's  theory  of  inspiration ; 
and  yet,  if  I  am  satisfied  that  men  are  learning  only  truth 
from  the  Bible,  and  that  that  truth  they  are  feeding  on  by  a 
living  faith, — not  resting  in  the  mere  holding  of  an  historical 
creed, — I  would  far  rather  let  them  live  and  die  in  their 
WTong  theory  of  inspiration,  than  risk  disturbing  their  life- 
giving  faith  in  the  attempt  to  correct  their  theory.  Not  that 
I  would  forbid  this  attempt  to  convince  scholars,  made 
wisely,  and  the  matter  being  kept  in  its  proper  place.  I 
would  expect  good  only  from  the  correction  of  such  an  error, 
assuming  its  existence.  Still  I  would  deprecate  such  discus- 
sions as  tend  to  suggest  the  thought : — "  Then  I  have  be- 
lieved the  Bible  too  readily.  I  must  endeavour  to  suspend 
my  faith  in  what  it  has  taught  me  until  I  purge  my  Bible  by 
the  help  of  historical  criticism,  and  ascertain  what  portions 
are  trustworthy,  and  what  are  not."  To  suggest  this  thought, 
or  even  to  awaken  the  feeling  which  would  take  this  form  if 
passing  into  thought,  would  seem  to  me  unwise.  Just  con- 
sider :  Judaism  passed  into  Christianity  without  such  a  purg- 
ing of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  as  this.  How  much,  on 
this  subject,  should  this  one  great  fact  teach  us  ! 


1864-66.  LETTER  TO  MR.   VAUGHAN.  65 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  23rd  April,  1864. 

I  intended  having  searched  out  a  quotation  from  Gambold, 

ending — 

' '  Will  sparkle  forth  vvhate'er  is  right 
For  exigence  of  every  hour." 

It  is  on  abiding  in  Christ.  May  you  feel  the  true  "  exigence 
of  every  hour,"  that  is,  what  is  needed  to  enable  you  to  please 
God  in  it.  What  light  comes  with  the  honest  appeal  to  Him, 
"  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do  ? "  To  put  the 
question  in  quiet  self-possessed  consciousness  brings  a 
measure  of  freedom  even  before  the  answer  is  received. 
There  is  a  blessedness  in  being  willing  to  hear  that  comes 
before  the  blessedness  of  actual  hearing — as  the  dawn  before 
the  sunrise. 

To  the  Rev,  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  7th  August,  1864. 

Many  thanks,  dear  friend,  for  your  letter,  the  kind  interest 
of  which  is  very  refreshing.  I  would  have  enjoyed  the  while 
of  you  which  you  contemplated  bestowing  on  me,  and  believe 
that  I  might  do  so  safely ;  for  I  have  been  advancing  steadily, 
though  slowly,  and  though  yet  lacking  much  of  tone,  both 
mind  and  body ; — but  we  would  have  grudged  for  you  both 
so  long  a  travel  for  so  short  a  stay.  When  I  was  rather  low, 
and  fearing  that  my  working  time  was  over,  I  was  much 
comforted  by  a  few  words  in  a  discourse  of  your  brother's  in 
Good  Words,  to  the  effect  that  "  failing  strength — or  rather, 
diminished  work — might  coexist  with  growing  piety."  I  now, 
with  the  sense — though  rather  dim — of  growing  strength,  de- 
sire that  any  reviving  hope  of  work  may  be  cherished  (if  per- 
mitted at  all)  in  the  waiting  attitude  of  the  prayer,  "Thy 

VOL.  II.  E 


66  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

will  be  done," — in  that  part  of  the  meaning  of  that  petition, 
which  ElHs  intends  when  he  regards  learning  to  say  "  Thy 
will  be  done  "  as  his  fruit  and  gain  from  all  his  sufferings.  I 
mean  the  Senior  Wrangler  of  such  great  promise,  who  was 
taken  away  so  early. 

My  thoughts  about  the  conflict  appointed  for  you  younger 
men,  to  which  faithfulness  to  Christ  at  this  time  will  call  you, 
have  been  many  in  this  long  time  of  forced  inaction.  I  had 
been  labouring  to  give  expression  to  some  aspects  of  faith,  to 
which  it  seemed  desirable  to  direct  attention ;  and  indeed  I 
believe,  in  seeking  to  go  deep  enough  and  to  clear  founda- 
tions, had  been  going  rather  beyond  my  strength.  If  per- 
mitted to  return  to  the  task  I  must  be  contented  to  take 
it  more  leisurely,  and  contented  also  to  say  what  I  can  easily 
say;  but  the  present  tendency  of  thought,  with  men  who 
seem  earnest  and  true,  to  raise  philosophy  above  Chris- 
tianity, while  seeming  to  themselves  but  extracting  and 
accepting  the  philosophy  of  Christianity,  weighs  upon  me 
heavily.  But  I  must  stop ;  1  may  some  other  time  expand 
my  meaning. 

To  his  Eldest  Son  : 

TlLe>i  in  Switzerland. 

Laurel  Bank,  4th  August,  1864, 

I  have  this  morning  a  letter  from  D.  J.  Vaughan,  ^vritten 
at  Perth.  .  .  .  He  writes  as  feeling  a  good  deal  my 
illness ;  and  to  him  a  long  illness  in  ^d^^,  and  another  long 
illness  in  '64  will  feel  like  a  breaking  up.  My  beloved 
Father  had  many  long  and  severe  illnesses,  and  always  rose 
after  them  nearly  to  what  he  was.  I  indeed  have  never  had 
his  strength  to  draw  upon,  while  I  have  drawn  upon  my 
strength  more  than  he  did  on  his.  I  was,  as  I  always  am, 
the  better  of  Mr.  Duncan's  visit ;  although  I  feel  I  have 
still  much  to  recover  in  tone  of  mind — or  nerve — whichever 
be  the  proper  word.     .     .     . 


1864-66.  LETTERS  TO  SWITZERLAND.  67 

I  have  been  a  good  deal  in  Switzerland  in  my  late  read- 
ing, endeavouring  to  picture  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell's  aid,  the 
mighty  glaciers  of  a  former  time,  which  dwarf  the  present 
more  than  the  mastodon,  &c.,  our  present  Fauna.  The 
evidences  of  their  existence  and  course  which  they  have 
left  are  extraordinary;  and  so  also  is  the  observation  which 
has  now  noticed  these,  and  the  ingenuity  with  which  the 
geological  judges  have  summed  these  evidences  up. 


29th  August,  1864. 

I  can  understand  that  the  number  of  people  looking  at 
sunsets  and  sunrises  along  with  you,  and  the  being  sum- 
moned together  as  to  a  sight,  may  interfere  not  a  little  with 
the  quiet  waiting  and  gradual  opening  to  receive,  as  the 
voice  of  light  waxes  stronger,  and  its  utterance  becomes 
clearer,  which  being  up  to  see  the  sun  rise  suggests  to  me ; 
though  I  scarcely  recal  a  sunrise,  though  so  many  sunsets 
in  the  most  desirable  circumstances.  Do  you  remember 
Coleridge's  comparing  the  difference  between  the  dawning 
on  the  mind  of  the  light  of  the  thoughts  of  true  genius — as 
the  thoughts  of  Shakespeare — and  the  forced  attempt  to 
strike  of  sparkling  talent  that  is  not  genius,  to  the  difference 
between  dawn  and  sunrise  and  the  corruscations  of  light- 
ning? There  is  something  very  beautiful  to  me  in  the  prepa- 
ration for  the  sight  of  the  sun  which  there  is  in  dawn ;  and 
also  in  the  light  that  remains  in  the  sky  after  the  sun  has 
passed  out  of  our  sight — softening  the  transition  to  dark- 
ness, as  the  warm  sense  of  affection  which  is  drawn  out  in 
a  parting,  and  possesses  the  heart  for  a  time,  softens  the 
transition  to  the  blank  of  absence. 

Our  weather  continues  beautiful.  I  trust  you  have  it 
equally  fine — and,  if  as  fine,  finer,  because  of  your  clearer 
atmosphere.  This  will  reach  you  after  the  vision  of  Cha- 
mouni,   and   it   may  be   of  the  Mer  de  Glace;   which    I 


68  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xl 

suppose  will  add  the  newest  sensations,  and  be  the  freshest 
aspect  of  nature. 

9th  September,  1864. 

You  have  no  idea  how  much  interest  the  notices  of  your 
progress  have  to  me,  or  how  my  fancy  fills  up  your  sketches; 
and  your  seeing  these  glorious  scenes  is  really  more  to  me 
than  seeing  them  myself  would  be ;  although  I  am  as  young 
as  ever  for  the  interest  of  nature,  and  older  also — with  more 
developed  capacity.  We  have  read  your  favourite  Tennyson's 
new  volume.  That  first  poem  which  gives  it  its  name, 
"  Enoch  Arden,"  is  very  beautiful ;  but  the  volume  as  a 
whole  is  inferior  to  the  last,  though  I  feel  as  if  it  were  unfair 
to  depreciate  a  man's  work  by  comparison  with  his  own 
excellence. 

15th  September. 

.  .  .  Although  I  have  not  attempted  deep  or  close 
thinking,  thoughts  have  been  from  time  to  time  presenting 
themselves,  as  to  which  I  would  be  unwilling  to  think  that  I 
may  never  be  able  to  record  them.  But  I  must  not  feel  that 
I  am  needed,  however  great  a  privilege  I  would  feel  it  to  be 
used.  .  .  .  We  had  Norman  down  to  see  your  aunt — 
full  of  his  work  as  Convener  of  the  E.  I.  Mission  Commit- 
tee ;  in  which  capacity  he  has  been  going  through  the  land 
as  far  as  Caithness,  holding  meetings,  and  endeavouring  to 
quicken  an  interest  in  the  mission.  We  had  Dr.  Wylie  also 
down  to  see  your  aunt,  whom  he  had  not  seen  since  1816 ! 
She  was  very  glad  to  see  him ;  and  they  seemed  both  able 
to  see  the  past  of  each  other  in  the  present. 

ParkhiLL,  Arbroath,  21st  September,  1864. 

I  am  as  ever  finding  this  dear  place  a  resting  place.  .    .    . 

I  suppose  this  will  be  my  last  letter  to  you  to  Switzerland, 

hearing  from  which  and  writing  to  which  has  been  so  great 


1864-66.  "  THE  RO IV  DAYS."  69 

an  interest  these  two  months,  tliough  a  small  part  only 
of  my  thoughts  and  wishes  for  you  has  taken  form  in  letters. 
Mr.  Erskine  used  to  say  in  the  Row  days  that  "  whoever 
preached  "  (even,  when  it  was  Mr.  Scott)  "  he  wished  for  me 
to  add  the  personal  application."  Searching  personal  appli- 
cation was  indeed  the  secret  of  the  interest — as  well  as  of  the 
opposition — which  iny  preaching  then  awakened.  And  to 
illustrate  the  importance  of  such  applications  of  truth  will  be 
one  object  of  my  writing  if  I  am  enabled  to  write  what  I 
contemplate  writing.  Had  I  been  with  you  listening  to  the 
solemn  voices  of  the  preachers  under  whom  you  have  been 
— as  they  say  in  Scotland — Mount  Blanc  and  his  confreres, 
I  might  often  have  offered  the  supplement  of  personal  appli- 
cation, in  the  form  of  uttering  the  application  to  myself 
which  I  felt. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Parkhili.,  3rd  October,  1864. 

My  darling  James, — I  send  you  your  loving  father's  best 
wishes  for  your  birthday.  How  thankful  am  I  that  my 
wishes  are  cherished  in  the  sure  knowledge  of  your  Heavenly 
Father's  wishes ;  that  my  heart  is  only  saying  "  Amen "  to 
the  heart  of  God  revealed  to  us  in  Christ  !  Therefore  my 
wishes  may  and  do  freely  take  the  form  of  prayers,  being  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  Him  to  whom  I  pray. 

When  you  were  about  to  appear  on  this  earth  I  hastened 
from  Italy  to  meet  you, — not  knowing  what  you  might  prove, 
but  prepared  to  receive  you  as  a  gift  from  God :  and  as  such 
have  I  held  you  these  eighteen  years ;  with  the  anxieties  from 
time  to  time  incident  to  parental  care,  but  with  an  abundantly 
compensating  share  of  the  comfort  which  a  loving  child  can 
be  to  a  loving  father.  Just  of  late  circumstances  made  my 
need  of  this  comfort  from  you  greater, — all  above  you  being 
away ;  and  the  demand,  I  thank  my  God,  has  not  exceeded 
the  supply. 


70  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

I  have  pleasure  in  sa}ing  this  that  it  may  be  among  your 
cheering  birthday  thoughts,  and  that  your  fathers  testimony 
to  you  as  a  lo\'ing  child  may  move  you  and  encourage  you 
to  draw  love  from  the  Eternal  Fountain  of  love,  with  which  to 
love  father  and  mother,  and  brothers  and  sisters — and  all — 
as  the  highest  use  to  which  these  gifts  can  be  turned,  and  the 
purest  enjo}Tnent  of  them.  It  so  is  that  at  this  present  time 
you  have  opportunit}-  to  celebrate  your  birthday  by  being  a 
special  comfort  to  beloved  mama, — a  privilege  which  is  some 
compensation  for  that  smallness  of  your  home  birthday  party 
which  M.  regrets. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

LiNLATHEN,  I2th  October,  1864. 

I  must  ^\Tite  to  you  with  this  date,  and  wish  you  many 
happy  returns  of  this  day,  in  time,  and  in  eternity,  if  birtl:- 
days  are  there  recalled  and  separated  from  the  other  elements 
of  time — time  as  a  whole  looked  back  upon  as  the  birthday 
of  existence.  How  it  seems  as  if  time  would  become  a 
speck  in  the  retrospect  of  eternity  I  Yet  how  powerful 
must  ever  be  the  telescope  of  our  moral  and  spiritual 
memory,  recalling,  for  the  enhancing  of  our  gratitude  for 
present  blessedness  in  God,  the  past  in  which  we  had 
"washed  our  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb."  No  height  of  glory  will  cause  us  to  forget  our  lowly 
beginning,  and  the  great  tribulation  through  which  we  had 
entered  the  kingdom  of  God ;  that  suffering  with  Christ 
which  had  prepared  us  for  reigning  with  Him;  the  cross 
which  WTOught  in  us  the  humility  which  shall  have  made  the 
crown  meet  for  us;  while,  "  kno^^ing  Christ  and  the  power  of 
His  resurrection  and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  we  have 
been  made  conformable  to  His  death,"  and  so  had  attained 
to  "  the  resurrection  from  the  dead."  The  Lamb  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne  is  "  a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain ;''  and 


1864-66.       THE  RETROSPECT  OF  ETERNITY.  71 

"  the  kings  and  priests  unto  God,"  in  giving  praise  and 
thanks  unto  the  Lord  who  has  made  them  such,  say,  "  Thou 
hast  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  Thy  blood." 

I  would  help  my  child  this  day  "  so  to  number  her  days 
as  to  apply  her  heart  unto  wisdom,"  and  it  will  be  a  help  to 
be  taken  to  a  stand-point  in  eternity,  from  which  to  look 
back  on  time  : — for  surely  time's  real  value  now  is  what  will 
be  then  seen  to  have  been  its  value,  viz.,  that  of  a  season 
in  which  to  have  been  "  washed  in  the  blood  of  Christ;"  no 
unconscious  passive  mysterious  process,  but  the  conscious- 
ness in  our  inner  man  of  working  out  our  salvation,  taking 
up  the  cross  and  denying  ourselves,  dying  to  self  in  the 
strength  of  the  life  in  God's  favour  given  to  us  in  Christ;  as 
Gambold  says,  "  Smiting  each  error  with  our  Maker's  rod,  and 
by  self-knowledge  reaching  unto  God  ;"  "  confessing  our  sins, 
and  finding  God  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  our  sins,  and 
to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness ;"  "  confessing  our 
faults  one  to  another  that  we  may  be  healed." 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

POLLOC,  22nd  November,  1864. 

.  .  .  When  I  distinguish  between  the  inward  witness 
which  the  truth  has  in  us,  and  the  sense  of  obligation  to 
seek  to  know  the  truth,  I  am  contemplating  the  power  to 
commend  itself  to  us  which  there  is  in  what  we  are  to  beHeve, 
as  distinct  from  all  questions  connected  with  the  history  of 
its  coming  to  us.  You  know  that  I  do  not  ignore  such  ques- 
tions, or  regard  them  as  of  little  account,  especially  as  asking 
the  attention  of  scholars ;  but  the  great  mass  of  human  re- 
sponsibility, that  is,  the  responsibility  of  the  great  mass  of 
men,  and  our  great  responsibility  as  men,  belongs  entirely  to 
the  former  subject.  Truth  has  its  loveliness,  as  the  rose  its 
beauty ;  and  the  love  of  the  truth  is  the  spirit's  due  response 
to  that  loveliness.     But  this  is  not  always  realized  sufficiently ; 


72  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

for  the  "love  of  the  truth"  is  often  (under  the  expression 
"  love  of  truth  ")  conceived  of  as  only  the  sincere  desire  to 
attain  to  the  knowledge  of  truth  :  a  most  important  desire, 
and,  being  deep  and  genuine,  what  may  be  expected  to  issue 
in  attaining  to  that  which  is  desired ;  but  I  think  you  will  at 
once  see  that,  as  what  we  may  be  conscious  to  while  we  feel 
still  in  the  dark,  this  desire  must  not  be  confounded  with 
that  joy  in  the  light,  when  the  light  is  reached,  which  has  a 
high  spiritual  character  as  the  due  response  of  our  spirit  to 
light,  and  the  conscious  exercise  of  our  capacity  of  seeing 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  discovery  of  Himself  to  us  which  he 
gives  us  in  Christ. 

But  I  may  seem  about  to  give  you  in  a  letter  over  again 
what  you  have  read  and  re-read  in  my  little  book.  What  I 
intend  is  only  to  direct  your  attention  to  the  importance  of 
cultivating  our  spiritual  sense  of  truth  even  as  a  step  towards 
increased  knowledge  of  the  truth.  In  other  words,  as  you 
may  have  heard  me  say,  the  preparation  for  understanding 
the  New  Testament  which  there  is  in  being  a  good  Greek 
scholar,  or  in  possessing  any  other  subsidiary  learning,  is  not 
to  be  compared  to  the  preparation  for  understanding  it  which 
a  quickness  to  see  and  recognize  God's  mind  gives.  This  may 
seem  to  belong  to  personal  religion,  and  to  our  ability  "  to 
Avorship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  But  it  is  not  difficult 
to  see  that  it  is  also  a  mental  key  to  the  meaning  of  Scripture 
even  as  a  subject  of  critical  study. 

I  have  been  led  to  this  train  of  thought  at  present  by  my 
reading  of  Renan.  Mr.  Burns,  in  his  inaugural  lecture  as  a 
professor  in  the  Free  Church  College,  says  Renan  has  done 
good  in,  as  he  expresses  it,  making  our  conflict  with  infidelity 
"not  a  skirmish  of  outposts,  but  a  defence  of  the  citadel;" 
i.e.,  not  a  question  of  the  history  of  revelation  but  a  question 
of  the  matter  of  revelation, — the  question  "  What  are  we  to 
believe  concerning  Christ  ?  "  This  may  be  one  with  Dean 
Stanley's  meaning  in  saying  that  the  question  of  inspiration 


1864-66.  RENAN'S  ARGUMENTS.  73 

was  not  now  t/ie  question ;  though  I  did  not  so  understand 
him  at  the  time.  .  .  .  But  Renan  is  not  in  point  of  fact 
exclusively  and  professedly  occupied  with  the  question  of  the 
believableness  of  what  we  are  asked  to  believe,  viewed  ab- 
.stractly,  and  as  a  conception  of  God  and  of  His  relation  to 
man,  to  be  accepted  or  rejected  according  as  it  is  seen  to 
be,  or  not  to  be,  God-like.  On  the  contrary,  as  what  he 
says  about  the  place  of  our  Lord's  nativity  shows  (and  there 
is  much  more  of  the  same  kind  of  thing),  he  uses  assumed 
results  of  historical  criticism  to  weaken  faith  in  the  written 
record ;  giving  such  results  as  accepted  by  himself,  and  not 
professing  to  argue  or  state  what  is  said  in  reply.  Still  his 
great  appeal  demands  from  us,  not  knowledge  of  Greek  or  of 
history,  but  capacity  of  recognizing  moral  beauty  and  har- 
mony. And  here  I  felt  as  one  asked  to  meet  him,  and  weigh 
his  arguments,  on  ground  on  which  I  was  somewhat  at  home, 
— though,  I  know,  not  so  much  so  as  I  ought  to  be, — but  at 
least  far  more  at  home  than  on  the  ground  of  Greek  or  his- 
torical criticism.  And  it  was  in  this  highest  aspect  of  what 
Renan  has  attempted  that  his  unpreparedness  for  his  task 
has  been  to  me  so  palpable. 

I  do  not  know  the  materials  that  exist  for  weighing  and 
appreciating  the  chronological  objection  to  the  account  of 
the  nativity  of  our  Lord  given  by  Luke,  which  refers  to  the 
"  taxing."  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  statement  of  any 
writer  whom  he  referred  to  a  date  so  near  the  time  in  ques- 
tion— and  whose  "  artistic  "  writing  of  history  he  so  dwells 
on — would,  had  he  not  been  an  evangelist,  have  been  received 
by  him  as  satisfactory  evidence,  in  a  matter  as  to  which  it 
must  have  been  in  his  power  to  inform  himself,  and  as  to 
which  he  professes  to  have  infonned  himself 

I  confess  I  passed  on  easily  from  his  impugning  of  Luke's 
authority  in  a  point  as  to  which  (apart  altogether  from  in- 
spiration, or  supernatural  enlightenment,  or  protection  from 
error  in  what  was  so  important)  he  was  most  likely  to  know 


74 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 


the  facts.  But  it  was  different  when  I  found  him  pronounc- 
ing on  the  harmony  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  as  given  by 
Matthew  and  his  teaching  as  given  by  John,  and  venturing 
the  decided  assertion  that  the  Christ  of  Matthew  and  the 
Christ  of  John  is  not  the  same  Christ.  This  he  says,  not  as 
supposing  that  the  two  evangehsts  speak  of  different  persons, 
but  as  supposing  that  the  true  picture  is  that  which  Matthew 
has  presented ;  that  John,  \mting  so  much  longer  after  the 
time,  modified  his  reminiscences  by  what  he  had  himself 
latterly,  under  new  influences,  come  to  think ;  ascribing  all 
that  he  had  so  come  to  hold  to  his  original  teacher.  .  .  . 
In  all  this  theory  he  has  manifested  a  superficial — though  a 
favourable — impression  or  estimate  of  the  discourses  of  Jesus 
recorded  by  Matthew,  and  an  entire  incapacity  for  appre- 
ciating those  recorded  by  John. 

To  one,  like  me,  to  whom  the  divine  character  of  the  pic- 
ture by  John  has  been  about  the  very  highest  evidence  of 
revelation,  this  has  been  a  most  conclusive  evidence  of 
Renan's  want  of  qualification  for  the  task  of  producing  a 
"  life  of  Jesus."  .  .  .  It  is  not  indeed  altogether  that  he 
thinks  that  John  saw  the  past  through  the  medium — not  to 
say  mist — of  his  own  present  state  of  mind,  when  wTiting  to- 
wards the  close  of  his  life  (or,  "if  not  John,  his  school"), 
but  that  he  regards  our  Lord  himself  as  really  changed  by 
circumstances,  and  brought  down  from  what  he  regards  as 
the  highest  spiritual  level  on  which  he  is  visible  to  us — viz., 
that  on  which  we  see  him  in  the  "  logia"  as  he  calls  them,  of 
Matthew — to  a  lower  level  on  which  he  stood  after  men's 
opposition  and  enmity  had  WTOUght  their  work  on  Him. 
Hence  the  deterioriaiioti  (as  he  speaks)  is  partly  real,  while 
partly  exaggerated  by  John  in  ignorant  endeavour  to  exalt 
Him  :  a  "deterioration"  which  really  was  development  and 
progress,  and  a  teaching  addressed  to  a  more  advanced  con- 
dition of  mind  in  His  disciples  ;  also,  in  part,  an  anticipation 
of  a  time  when  they  would  be  enabled  by  the  promised  Com- 


1864-66.  OBJECTIONS  TO  RE  NAN.  75 

forter  to  understand  what  they  heard  better  than  when  hear- 
ing it. 

But  whether  regarded  as  a  change  for  the  worse  in  Jesus,  or 
as  a  dehisive  colouring  by  John,  the  blindness  to  what  the  pic- 
ture in  John  really  is,  is  equally  blindness  ;  a  blindness,  as  I 
have  said,  unfitting  him  for  dealing  with  this  high  subject. 

This  is  the  most  conclusive  and  most  important  proof  of 
the  untrustworthiness  of  this  smooth  flowing  and  attractively 
written  theory  of  the  origin  of  Christianity,  in  the  forai  of  a 
life  of  its  founder  intended  to  be  philosophic.  But  the  rash 
self-confidence  implied  comes  out  continually ;  and  the  pre- 
paredness to  accept  the  most  unsatisfactory  and  inadequate 
solutions  of  facts,  from  the  true  explanation  of  which  he  had 
shut  himself  out  by  the  predetermination  to  recognise  none 
but  natural  causes. 

PoLLOc,  25th  November,  1864. 

.  .  .  This  has  been  a  longer  visit  than  I  often  make  to 
my  kind  friend  here  ;  though  as  much  to  Mr.  Erskine  as  to 
him  :  and  Mr.  E.  has  made  it  move  on  freely.  Sir  John  has 
an  increasing  welcome  for  serious  conversation  ;  and  Mr. 
Erskine  is  so  varied  and  full,  passing  so  easily  to  what  Pro- 
fessor Thomson,  who  dined  with  us  yesterday,  or  Professor 
Rogers,  who  dined  with  us  to-day,  contribute  from  their 
special  stores,  drawing  them  out  as  an  intelligent  questioner 
does,  and  often  by  natural  transition  passing  to  that  which  is 
higher.  I  have  myself  been  enabled  to  contribute  more  than 
I  often  do  to  conversation.  So  it  has  been  a  pleasant  and 
refreshing  time.  I  am  glad  to  have  now  really  made  Thom- 
son's acquaintance;  so  much  so,  that  he  has  invited  me  to 
come  to  him  to  his  laboratory  at  the  College.  He  has 
manifestly  great  delight  in  communicating  knowledge,  and 
great  facility  in  doing  so  ;  and  of  course  what  he  illustrated 
he  illustrated  without  the  use  of  mathematics  as  he  could 
not  assume  that  they  would  help  him  with  us.     .     .     . 


76  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

I  do  not  see  that  I  can  advise  you  about  books;  only  1 
feel  that  the  attempt  to  get  up  a  great  deal  may  be  confusmg, 
and  laying  too  much  weight  on  the  memory.  As  to  Com- 
mentaries, having  never  studied  with  one,  I  am  little  qualified 
to  advise.  .  .  .  You  know  how  much  I  dread  frittering 
of  the  mind's  attention  by  such  critics  as  Alford.  .  .  . 
Your  loving  father  thinks  of  you,  and  prays  for  you,  through 
the  night  and  through  the  day. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Christmas,  1864. 

Perhaps  the  circumstance  that  Christmas  is  this  time  a 
Sunday  may  separate  more  between  its  religious  character 
and  its  festive  character — the  latter  being  left  for  the  morrow. 
However  this  may  be,  I  trust  it  is  not  passing  with  you, 
darling,  without  serious  thought— which  your  being  away 
from  us  all,  with  whom  you  have  ever  till  now  welcomed  this 
season,  may  favour.  Your  nearest  friend — and  who  ought  to 
be  your  dearest  friend — is  He  who  is  with  you  now  as  He  has 
€ver  been,  and  the  feeling  of  His  love  is  the  true  deep  joy 
of  this  season  :  His  love  expressed  in  His  unspeakable  gift 
our  blessed  Saviour,  whose  coming  into  our  world  this  day 
recals.  Even  a  little  knowledge  of  our  need  of  a  Saviour, 
.and  a  little  tasting  of  that  Saviour's  love  in  what  He  has 
done  and  is  doing  to  save  us,  may  give  its  true  sweetness  to 
Christmas.  My  prayer  for  you,  darling  child,  is  that  you 
may  be  meditating  with  some  true  understanding  on  what 
you  owe  to  Christ,  and  may  be  yielding  your  heart  to  the 
drawing  of  His  love  with  some  degree  of  welcome  to  His 
grace;  and  above  all,  that  you  may  be  truly  praying  for  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  you  may  understand  more 
and  love  more,  praying  believing  that  God  is  the  hearer  and 
answerer  of  prayer. 


1864-66.  ''BROAD  GENERAL  TRUTHS."  77 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

14th  January,  1865. 

.  .  .  I  would  have  enjoyed  much  going  on  with  you 
in  your  reading.  Of  course  I  cannot  wish  you  to  read  with- 
out thinking  and  merely,  as  men  would  say,  to  get  up  sub- 
jects; but  the  subjects  have  to  be  got  up;  and  there  is 
much  thinking  that  may  be  not  only  inviting  but  right  in 
itself,  which  yet  may  be  allowed  to  wait.  I  believe  true  rest 
is  only  in  broad  general  truths ;  and  as  to  any  attempt  to 
take  the  mould  (or  to  try  how  the  mould  will  fit  us)  of  any  of 
the  several  forms  of  thought  which  systems  have  assumed, 
the  diversity  in  these  seems  to  me  to  forbid  it; — the  diversity 
that  was  present  originally  in  the  bodies  of  men  who  had  to 
agree  on  articles,  and  the  diversity  traceable  in  subsequent 
comments  on  these.  If  the  substantial  abiding  truth  of  the 
footing  on  which  we  stand  before  God  in  Christ,  and  the 
conception  of  our  relation  to  Him,  both  as  to  His  mind 
towards  us  and  the  mind  which  we  are  called  to  cherish 
towards  Him,  be  covered  by — or  rather  cover — the  teaching 
that  is  set  forth  as  that  of  the  church,  it  must  be  enough; 
unless  the  church  is  to  fall  to  pieces  in  fragments  as 
numerous  as  the  various  shadings  of  thought.  If  utterances 
of  the  mind  of  the  church  at  successive  epochs,  and  through 
individual  minds,  or  assemblies  of  men,  were  one  con- 
tinuous flow  of  Divine  Inspiration,  vindicating  its  claim  to  be 
so  recognized  by  its  own  character,  whatever  we  might  be 
able  to  apprehend  and  receive  as  light,  there  would  at  least 
be  nothing  to  reject  or  modify ;  and  this  character  belongs 
to  the  foundation  laid  in  Apostles  and  Prophets :  but  church 
history,  as  the  history  of  the  church's  thought,  is  something 
very  different ;  and  if  we  should  task  ourselves  to  receive 
that  history,  or  any  selected  portion  of  it,  as  if  we  were  deal- 
ing with  pure  unmixed  light,  we  should  greatly  err. 

But  the  church  has  not  therefore  lost  its  claim  on  us  for 


78  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

gratitude  for  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  or  for  devotedness  to  the  task  of  seeking  to  be  our- 
selves part  of  its  salt  retaining  its  savour. 

If  you  are  going  on  with  your  reading  of  Butler  tell 
me  so,  and  where  you  are,  and  I  shall  endeavour  to 
procure  a  copy  of  it  and  read  with  you  though  apart  j 
so  as  to  be  able  to  respond  to  anything  that  it  occurs 
to  you  to  say  about  it  as  you  go  along. 
You  will  be  interested  in  the  notice  of  Dr.  Robertson's 
death.  I  think  I  told  you  to  what  simplicity  of  faith  he 
seemed  to  have  attained,  judging  by  one  of  the  printed 
addresses  to  his  people  which  I  saw  at  Linlathen.  The 
pleading  on  the  freeness  of  the  grace  of  God  took  me  back 
thirty-eight  years — when  I  first  saw  and  urged  that  freeness, 

24th  January,  1865. 

.  .  .  On  Friday  we  accompanied  Caroline  and  Catherine 
Wylie  to  the  Museum  and  the  Cathedral.  The  afternoon 
sun  at  its  present  level  illumines  the  Cathedral  more  effec- 
tively than  I  had  formerly  seen  it.  Dr.  Robertson's  death 
came  freshly  over  me,  in  being  where  he  had  ministered  the 
word — I  trust,  not  without  profit  to  his  people.    .    .    . 

I  have  not  written  since  Mr.  Bell's  death.  I  went  to  see 
him  on  Monday.  James  having  heard  that  he  was  much  worse. 
I  came  too  late  to  see  him.  He  had  died  on  Sunday  night 
I  found  his  poor  wife  worn  out  with  nursing  him,  and  under 
the  first  fresh  sense  of  bereavement ;  but  occupied  most  with 
his  peace  in  death,  which,  along  with  the  feeling  of  the 
severity  of  the  suffering  which  death  had  terminated,  made 
thoughts  of  the  change  to  herself  seem  selfish  and  to  be  put 
away.  My  visit  to  him  after  yours  had  comforted  him 
greatly ;  and  before  the  last  increased  suffering  he  seems  to 
have  been  able,  not  only  to  be  peaceful  as  to  his  own  future, 
but  also  as  to  all  his  natural  anxieties  for  her.     .     .     .     He 


1864-66.  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  IRVING.  79 

was  brought  up  religiously  and  read  his  Bible  much,  and 
long  felt  as  if  God  came  nearer  to  men  in  the  Old  Testament 
than  in  the  New  ;  that  in  the  former  the  people  seemed  all 
taught  to  look  to  him  as  their  Father.  It  was  not  until  he 
became  one  of  their  family,  and  came  under  my  teaching, 
that  he  saw  God's  Fatherliness  as  revealed  in  Christ,  and  as 
the  Gospel. 

.  .  .  This  history  of  Mr.  Bell's  early  feeling  recals  to 
me  Mr.  Irving's  preaching  before  he  knew  that  Christ  had 
died  for  all,  when  he  found  in  the  fact  that  all  his  hearers 
were  baptized  men  that  liberty  in  preaching  Christ  as  one  in 
whom  they  had  all  an  interest,  which  his  heart  craved  for, 
and  which  afterwards  he  saw  in  that  to  which  baptism  is  a 
witness,  and  a  seal,  because  sealing  what  is  true. 

Mr.  Irving  refused  to  submit  to  that  treating  of  baptized 
men  as  if  they  were  less  God's  people  than  circumcised 
men  of  old;  and,  though  he  did  not  stand  then  on  the 
deeper  foundation,  the  Rock  of  Ages — the  name  into  which 
men  are  baptized — yet,  not  questioning  the  interest  in  that 
name  of  the  baptized  at  least,  he  stood  in  a  larger  place 
than  men  occupied  who  were  fettered  by  the  practical  form 
which  the  faith  of  Election  takes  in  ordinary  evangelical 
teaching. 

I  remember  well — and  you  may  have  heard  me  often 
mention  it — how,  when  he  came  to  call  on  your  aunt  at  the 
hotel  where  she  was  with  Mary,  when  she  brought  her  home 
from  India — how  he  took  the  child  up  in  his  arms  and  kissed 
her,  blessed  her,  and  then,  putting  her  down,  turning  to  her 
mother  and  me,  said,  "  This  child  is  a  Christian,  as  we  are." 
I  think — but  rather  infer  than  remember — that  he  was 
speaking  of  baptism  before  the  child  came  into  the  room. 

It  was  some  time  subsequent  to  this  that  one  day  at  his 
own  house  the  incident  occurred,  which  I  must  also  have 
mentioned  to  you,  from  which  dated  his  preaching  that  all 
were  called  upon  to  see  Christ  as  their  Saviour,  because  He 


8o  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

had  died  for  their  sins  and  been  raised  again  for  their  justifi- 
cation.^    .     .     . 

Laurel  Bank,  5th  February,  1865. 

.  .  .  I  have  no  doubt  that  were  he  now  aUve,  and 
deahng  with  the  graver  and  more  earnest  doubt  of  our  time, 
Butler  would  realize  the  great  question  to  be,  "  What  is 
Christianity?"  not,  "What  credentials  of  miracles  or  pro- 
phecy does  it  bring?"  At  the  same  time  miracles,  prophecy, 
and  all  the  supernatural  connected  with  Christianity,  must 
be  regarded  as  a  part  of  what  it  is ;  and  to  any  entering  into 
the  difference  between  religion  and  morality,  and  seeing 
man's  need  in  the  light  of  our  personal  relation  to  God,  as 
distinct  from  our  personal  relations  to  one  another,  the 
supernatural,  in  all  its  forms  and  measures,  from  the  gifts 
with  which  the  early  church  was  endowed  at  the  beginning 
down  to  all  ordinary  answer  of  prayer,  is  in  harmony  with  the 
Divine  purpose  of  cultivating  in  us  direct  personal  dealing 
with  God, — direct  faith  in  His  faithfulness  and  trust  in  His 
will,  as  responding  to  our  will  asking  things  according  to  His 
will.  As  to  the  relative  place  of  the  merely  supernatural  as 
distinct  from  the  purely  spiritual,  the  habit  of  thought  in 
Butler's  time  seems  to  me  more  remote  from  that  which  we 
discern  in  the  Apostle  Paul  than  that  to  which  we  now  more 
incline.  I  do  not  mean  merely  in  that  subordinating  of 
gifts  to  charity  which  is  so  strongly  expressed, — to  which  no 
theory  on  the  question  of  evidences  could  lead  men  to 
object.  I  refer  rather  to  the  manifest  recognition  of  a  power 
to  command  faith  present  in  the  truth  spoken,  as  not  only 
independent  of  the  mere  influence  of  witnessing  the  super- 
natural, but  as  mightier  than  that  influence,  and  prevailing 
by  its  own  might  when  the  other  might  fail  of  result.  See 
I  Cor.  xiv.  24,  25.     .     .     .     I  do  not  suppose  that  any  one 

^  An  account  of  this  conversation  has  already  been  given  ;  see  Vol.  I. 
page  54. 


1864-66.         MIRACLES  NOT  A  HINDRANCE.  8i 

whose  recognition  of  the  claims  of  the  Church  had  this  his- 
tory would  assign  the  miracles  which  he  had  witnessed  as 
the  ground  of  his  faith :  yet  would  these  also  find  their 
fitting  place  in  his  faith,  and  not  be  felt  superfluous,  or — as 
men  now  profess  to  feel  them — a  hindrance  rather  than  a 
help.  Most  certainly,  believing  in  their  reality,  we  shall  find 
them  not  a  hindrance  but  a  help  to  that  walking  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight,  to  which  we  are  called. 

I  shall  not  pursue  this  subject  further ;  but  what  I  have 
said  may  explain  to  you  the  religious  conservatism  in  me 
which  would  retain  all  argument  from  miracle  and  prophecy, 
with  all  record  of  answers  to  prayer  from  the  beginning  until 
now,  while  fully  sympathizing  with  those  who  say,  Christian- 
ity must  ever  have  its  highest  claim  on  our  faith  in  what 
it  is — what  it  reveals  God  to  be, — what  it  calls  us  to  be. 

Now  this  is  enough  of  this  kind  of  ^vriting  for  me  for  one 
day.     .     .     . 

Laurel  Bank,  5th  March,  1865. 

.  ,  .  Thanks  for  this  intimation  of  the  way  in  which 
this  season  is  to  be  marked  at  Doncaster.  The  help  found 
in  the  frequent  prayers  of  such  a  time,  as  well  as  in  the 
whole  selection  of  lessons,  &c.,  is  often  very  great ;  and  this 
in  a  way  that  is  free  from  superstition,  and  a  pure  cherishing 
of  faith  in  what  has  often  been  called  "Historical  Chris- 
tianity"— [called  so]  with  a  feeling  that  has  been  painful  to 
me — the  feeling  of  having  attained  to  "essences"  which 
made  the*  "  history "  from  which  they  have  been  extracted 
secondary. 

We  err  in  seeking  to  separate  the  Eternal  Life  from  its 
divine  form,  or  attempting  to  receive  it  as  an  abstract 
knowledge  of  God  rather  than  as  a  knowledge  that  is  made 
apprehensible  for  man  in  Jesus  Christ.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
most  simple  faith  in  the  facts  which  the  gospel  reveals 
quickens  the  mind  of  Christ  in  men ;  while  much  philosophic 

VOL.  II.  F 


82  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

meditation  on  the  elements  of  that  mind,  and  their  nature  as 
essential  to  salvation,  often  issues  more  in  the  admiration  of 
this  ideal  than  in  fellowship  in  it. 

In  thinking  just  now  of  the  gain  that  a  right  use  of  this 
season  as  marked  by  the  church  may  bring,  I  have  felt  as  if 
the  exceeding  value  put  on  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  at  the  beginning  was  illustrated  to  me.  Men  setting 
themselves,  "whether  they  eat  or  drank,  or  whatever  they 
did,  to  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks 
to  God  the  Father  by  Him,"  would  find  a  divine  fitness  to 
help  them  to  realize  this  ideal  of  life  in  the  Eucharist.  .  .  . 
So  long  as  "  feeding  on  Christ "  preserved  its  true  spiritual 
meaning,  there  would  be  no  need  to  attempt  to  distinguish 
between  the  aspect  of  the  Eucharist  as  a  "  remembering " 
and  a  "  showing  forth,"  and  its  aspect  as  a  present  receiving 
of  the  sap  of  the  vine — a  present  increase  of  divine  life. 
Christ  would  be  "  known  in  the  breaking  of  bread,"  as  well 
as  "  remembered  "  and  "  confessed." 

That  a  purely  spiritual  interest  in  time  passed  into  an 
interest  which  was  rather  superstitious  than  spiritual  we 
know ;  and  when  we  would  trace  this  progress,  and  attempt 
to  say  how  much  of  what  Romanism  offers  to  men's  faith  on 
this  subject  is  pure  superstition,  and  how  much  is  truth  seen 
as  in  a  mist,  we  are,  I  believe,  in  great  danger  of  expecting 
from  mere  intellectual  analysis  what  is  to  be  reached  only  in 
the  light  of  a  spiritual  experience, — the  experience  that 
comes  with  the  use  of  the  ordinance  in  the  light  of  redeem- 
ing love.  In  that  light  it  has  appeared  to  me  that  even  the 
distinctive  element  in  the  Mass  which  has  been  called  the 
bloodless  sacrifice  and  offering  of  Christ,  is  seen  to  be — like 
the  material  feeding  on  Christ — the  record  of  an  element  in 
the  early  experience  of  the  church ;  when  Christ,  accepted 
as  their  life,  was  offered  up  in  worship, — that  life  ascending 
to  God  as  worship. 


1864-66.     TRUTH  UNDERLYING  SUPERSTITION.    83 

If  it  is  true  that  "  we  live ;  yet  not  we,  but  Christ  in  us," 
it  is  true  that  we  offer  ourselves  living  sacrifices ;  yet  not  we, 
but  Christ  in  us.  For  what  does  God  accept  as  our  true 
worship  ?     Is  it  not  Christ  ?     ,     .     . 

I  have  attempted  more  than  I  intended  when  I  began  to 
write.  Practically,  wisdom  here  is  occupation  with  the 
truth,  and  not  refiitation  of  the  lie.  We  may  seem  to  be 
gainers  in  rejecting  that  which  is  superstition.  This  is,  how- 
ever, but  a  negative  gain;  and  even  as  such  is  very  insecure, 
unless  we  are  accepting  that  which  is  the  spiritual  reality  of 
which  that  superstition  is  the  counterfeit.  And  as  I  have 
said  that  those  would  most  value  the  ordinance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  who  were  seeking  to  abide  in  Christ  and  live 
by  Him  in  all  things,  so  I  would  say  that  to  be  followers  of 
them  in  this  universal  feeding  upon  Christ  is  the  way  to 
know  as  they  did  the  special  blessing  of  partaking  in  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  March,  1865. 

My  dearest  John, — I  seem  to  myself  very  silent  to  you. 
But  I  am  not  the  less  mindful  of  you ;  often  lifting  up  my 
heart  for  you,  as  I  realize  your  circumstances  and  probable 
need,  and  remember,  besides,  how  great  your  need  may  be 
in  respect  of  difficulties  in  your  path  which  I  know  not.  But 
such  difficulties,  whether  what  I  may  conjecture  or  cannot, 
are  all  known  to  Him  for  whose  protection  of  you  from  all 
dangers,  without  and  within,  I  pray.  I  know  that  I  am 
taught  to  desire  for  you  things  which  are  according  to  the 
will  of  God ;  and  I  know  that  this  is  the  form  which  parental 
interest  should  take,  the  earthly  father  saying,  in  truth  of 
spirit,  "  amen  "  to  the  will  of  the  heavenly  Father ;  and  thus 
I  have  freedom  in  casting  my  cares  for  you  on  Him  who  is 
teaching  me  what  right  cares  for  you  are.     And  I  believe 


84  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xi 

that  thus  I  am  helpful  to  you, — not  to  the  effect  of  doing 
away  with  your  own  personal  responsibility,  but  yet  a  real 
spiritual  help  to  you  in  your  endeavours  to  discharge  that 
'  responsibility  aright.  The  apostle  says,  "  Pray  for  us,  for  we 
trust  we  have  a  good  conscience."  His  cherishing  a  good 
conscience  did  not  raise  him  above  the  help  of  the  prayers 
of  others ;  it  only  made  the  expectation  of  help  from  their 
prayers  stronger.  And  that  your  gracious  God  should  do 
you  good  through  your  father's  prayers  need  not  seem  less 
consistent  with  His  own  greater  love  to  you  than  that  He 
should  in  any  other  way  make  my  parental  care  an  advantage 
to  you.  God  is  the  Father  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  and 
His  interest  in  each  one  of  us  is  personal  and  immediate ; 
and  yet  His  benefits  flow  to  us  through  each  other  in  count- 
less ways,  and  one  of  them  is  prayer.  And  there  is  no  form 
of  expression  which  an  interest  in  others  can  take  more  pure 
and  holy  in  itself,  or  more  in  harmony  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  "  one  is  our  Father,  and  all  we  are  brethren,"  than 
intercessory  prayer :  none  that  more  exalts  and  refines  our 
love,  or  more  helps  to  keep  us  right  in  heart  towards  them. 
So  I  use  it, — not  for  comfort  only,  and  rest  of  heart,  in 
thinking  of  you  and  other  absent  dear  ones,  but  for  strength- 
ening in  all  right  feelings  when  thinking  of  any  whose  wrong 
feelings  may  be  trying  me,  and  making  a  right  mind  towards 
them  a  difficult  victory  of  faith. 

Therefore  our  blessed  Lord,  when  charging  us  to 
"  love  our  enemies,"  adds,  "  and  pray  for  those  who 
despitefully  use  you."  Setting  ourselves  honestly  to  pray 
for  them,  we  must  needs  extend  to  them  ourselves 
that  true  forgiveness  which  we  ask  for  them  from  God. 
Oh !  how  do  such  precepts  as  that  which  I  am  now 
referring  to  reveal  the  divinity  of  our  Divine  Teacher 
beyond  all  miracles !  We  reasonably  feel  that  He  who 
opens  the  eyes  of  the  blind  and  raises  the  dead  is  one  whose 
word  we  may  receive  as  the  word  of  God;  but  how  far 


1864-66.     PREPARATION  FOR  CONFIRMATION.       85 

deeper  is  this  conviction  as  it  is  imparted  to  us  in  our 
coming  to  apprehend  the  divine  love  that  is  in  that  word 
itself!  Doubtless  those  who  listened  to  "the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount"  did  so  with  all  the  more  readiness  to  believe 
because  of  the  "  mighty  works "  of  Him  who  spoke.  Yet 
the  Divine  Authority  with  which  He  taught  was  only 
imperfectly  expressed  in  the  mighty  works.  Its  full  expres- 
sion was  in  the  Divine  Excellence  of  the  teaching  itself;  and 
those  whose  mental  eye  was  open  to  discern  that  excellence 
alone  listened  and  believed  with  that  faith  which  fully 
glorified  God. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  19th  March,  1865. 

Your  more  limited  work  is,  I  suppose,  making  what  you 
do  more  effective  and  thorough  ;  and  this  is  no  small  advan- 
tage. Another  advantage  is  the  greater  justice  that  you  will 
be  able  to  do  to  anything  prescribed  in  preparation  for  con- 
firmation. But  such  preparation  is  only  fixing  more  special 
and  considerate  attention  on  what  should  have  a  share  in 
your  habitual  thought — or  at  least  feeling — and  should  at 
special  times,  as  on  Sundays,  be  the  subject  of  earnest  medi 
tation. 

Darling  child — the  love  of  God,  revealed  in  Christ  and 
into  the  light  of  which  we  are  taken  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  to 
our  spirits  what  the  light  of  the  sun,  the  atmosphere  which 
we  breath,  and  the  food  we  eat,  are  to  our  bodies.  This  is 
true;  though  we  cannot  be  deprived  of  food,  or  air,  or 
light  without  painfully  feeling  that  we  cannot  do  without 
them  :  while  our  spirits  may  be  without  the  supply  of  their 
corresponding  need  and  no  painful  sensation  of  want  be  ex- 
perienced. 

This  insensibility  is  what  is  called  spiritual  death,  the  wil- 
ing death  of  sin.     Its  opposite  is  that  craving  desire  to  know 


86  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  and  to  be  enabled  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  keep  it  in  remembrance  that  it  may  feed  and  cherish 
the  divine  life  in  us,  which  is  more  or  less  keenly  felt  in  pro- 
portion as  we  have  awakened  to  the  consciousness  that  we 
are  God's  offspring — and  have  eternal  life  in  his  Son — and 
are  now  here  in  the  school  of  Christ  to  be  educated  and 
made  meet  for  our  Father's  more  immediate  presence,  in  the 
light  of  that  kingdom  and  glory,  for  the  coming  of  which  we 
pray. 

Now  preparation  for  confirmation  is  receiving  the  true 
knowledge  of  which  the  elements  are  these — viz.,  what  God 
is  to  us,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  what 
we  are  called  to  be  to  God  in  response  to  what  He  is  to  us. 
Drawing  near  to  the  Father,  through  the  Son,  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  may  you,  dearest  child,  seek  by  truthful 
meditation  on  what  you  are  taught,  and  by  prayer,  to  attain 
to  this  preparation.  May  you  come  to  realize  as  the  very 
truth,  and  the  highest  truth  concerning  yourselt — truth  as 
certain  as  your  existence,  and  the  truth  which  makes  it  good 
for  you  that  you  exist — this  truth  that  the  Father  is  your 
Father,  that  the  Son  is  your  Saviour,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  your  sanctifier !  May  this  thought  about  yourself — this 
aspect  of  your  own  condition — fill  you  with  wonder,  and  awe, 
and  grateful  love  to  Him  who  has  given  you  a  being  !  May 
you  be  moved  by  this  wonder  and  awe  and  love  to  con- 
sider what  manner  of  person  you  ought  to  be  of  whom  such 
high  and  excellent  things  are  true  !  May  you  thus  learn  to 
know  and  value  your  heavenly  birthright !  The  faith  of  this 
your  high  birthright,  as  one  to  whom  God  has  given  Eternal 
Life  in  His  Son,  was  my  comfort  in  holding  you  up  and  pre- 
senting you  for  baptism.  This  same  faith  in  whatever 
measure  you  are  enabled  to  cherish  it  will  be  your  own  right 
comfort  in  receiving  confirmation. 


1864-66.         MEANING  OF  CHRIST'S  LOVE.  87 

March  28th,  1865. 

Darling,  I  trust  my  last  letter  may  be  really  helpful  to 
you.  I  have  felt  since  sending  it  as  if  I  might  have  been 
wiser  to  have  occupied  your  attention,  your  thoughts,  and 
your  heart,  more  simply  and  exclusively  with  the  love  of  Christ. 
This  might  help  you  more  as  to  the  right  mind  in  which  to 
"  show  forth  the  Lord's  death" — in  the  solemn  ordinance  to 
which  confirmation  opens  your  way.  But  I  think  so  much 
of  confirmation  in  its  relation  to  baptism  and  to  the  name 
into  which  we  have  been  baptized,  that  anything  that  sheds 
light  on  that  great  name,  or  rather,  helps  one  to  enter  into 
the  light  that  shines  in  that  name,  seems  to  me  the  most 
direct  preparation  for  confirmation. 

But  let  me  now  urge  you  to  meditate  on  the  love  of  Christ 
just  as  pure  love  to  you — love  seeking  to  bless  you — love  tak- 
ing the  form  which,  because  of  your  sinful  state,  it  was  need- 
ful that  it  should  take  in  order  to  bless  you  :  and  when  I  say 
"  bless  you,"  I  mean,  "make  you  good — make  you  holy — 
make  you  true — make  you  loving."  Do  understand,  darling 
child,  that  when  Christ  died  for  you  that  you  might  live 
through  Him,  "suffering,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  He  might 
bring  you  to  God,"  it  was  the  life  that  is  divine — Christ's 
own  heart  and  mind — that  His  love  proposed  to  impart  to 
you.  When  we  are  in  danger  of  being  satisfied  with  the  com- 
fort of  the  death  of  Christ  for  sins,  stopping  short  at  that 
point,  let  us  remember  that  nothing  can  satisfy  Christ  con- 
cerning us  but  our  being  "  alive  to  God."  Because  He  ever 
sees  us,  not  only  as  in  ourselves  sinners,  but  as  those  who  may 
through  Him  be  to  God  dear  children,  we  ought  ever  to 
think  of  ourselves  in  the  same  way.  If  we  do  so  we  shall 
both  confess  our  sins — believing  in  the  forgiveness  of  them 
through  the  blood  of  Christ — and  lift  up  our  hearts  to  God 
as  our  Father,  expecting  and  welcoming  help  from  Christ  to 
enable  us  to  say  "  Father "  in  spirit  and  in  truth.     Jesus 


88  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever.  As  in  love 
He  died  for  us,  so,  being  risen  from  the  dead,  and  present 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  having  all  power  in  heaven  and 
on  earth,  He  in  the  same  love  uses  His  power  for  our  benefit — 
our  benefit  in  all  ways,  but  especially  our  benefit  in  enabling 
us  to  walk  in  His  own  steps — the  steps  of  pure  unselfish  love 
— love  to  God,  and  love  to  one  another. 

My  wish  is  to  fix  your  attention  on  the  love  of  Christ — 
alike  on  what  He  has  done  for  you  when  on  earth,  and  what 
He  is  ever  ready  to  do  for  you  now  that  He  is  in  heaven — 
your  "  Glorified  Head  " — your  "  High  Priest "  over  the  house 
of  God.  I  say  on  both  alike,  because  I  believe  that  neither 
of  these  thoughts  can  work  well  without  the  other ;  for  they 
are  both  included  in  the  "  Gospel " — the'  good  news  of  our 
salvation. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

POLLOC,  28th  April,  1865. 

.  .  .  We  go  home  to-morrow  after  a  pleasant  visit  to 
old  Sir  John,  which  James  has  enjoyed,  the  weather  being 
beautiful,  and  the  bursting  forth  of  the,  hidden  life  of  the 
trees  proceeding  so  rapidly  as  to  make  the  difference  between 
day  and  day  marked.  I  have  been  fancying  the  beauty  of 
the  "  Backs "  with  you.  ...  I  was  thinking  in  my 
waking  hours  this  morning  of  the  words,  "  Whom  have  I  in 
Heaven  but  Thee?  and  there  is  none  upon  Earth  that  I 
desire  beside  Thee,"  as  the  language  of  one  who  has  found 
the  secret  of  loving  the  Lord  his  God  with  all  his  heart  and 
mind  and  soul  and  strength.  And  I  was  made  very  thank- 
ful by  reaching — after  some  self-proving — the  conclusion 
that  in  truth  of  feeling,  and  not  in  mere  conviction  of  what 
ought  to  be,  I  knew  something  of  such  a  mind  towards  God ; 
— in  t7-iith  of  feehng,  though  not  in  intensity,  such  as  the 
words  seem  to  have  been  the  expression  of. 


1864-66.  SELF-EXAMINATION.  89 

"  We  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us."  Self-exam- 
ination with  the  object  of  finding  in  ourselves  encouragement 
to  appropriate  the  love  of  God  to  ourselves,  may  lead  either 
to  a  self-righteous  hope,  or  a  fear  that  implies  ignorance  of 
the  freeness  of  the  grace  of  God.  But  self-examination  en- 
gaged in  in  the  clear  faith  of  the  love  of  God  as  what  the 
gospel  reveals,  and  only  to  prove  ourselves  as  to  the  reality 
of  our  trust  in  God's  love  and  of  the  response  of  our  hearts 
to  His  love,  however  it  may  encourage  us  by  the  conscious- 
ness that  God's  purpose  is  being  fulfilled  in  us,  can  never 
awaken  any  self-righteous  self-congratulation ;  while,  however 
it  may  humble  us,  and  awaken  self-blame  because  our  return 
of  love  is  so  faint  and  scanty,  it  can  never  make  us  stand  in 
doubt  of  our  interest  in  the  love  which  makes  us  ashamed 
of  our  coldness  of  heart,  seeing  it  is  that  love  which,  "  while 
we  were  yet  sinners,  gave  Christ  to  die  for  us." 

Lady  Lucy  Grant  has  indulged  me  with  the  perusal  of  some 
letters  of  Lady  Matilda's  which  she  has  copied  into  a  small 
MS.  volume.  They  are  a  precious  record  of  faith  and  hope 
and  love. 

To  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan.     , 

PoLLOC,  19th  May,  1865. 

My  dear  Friend, — I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving 
your  letter  just  as  I  was  about  to  leave  home,  to  be  for 
some  days  here  with  Mr.  Erskine  at  the  house  of  a  common 
friend. 

This  expression^  of  what  you  feel  to  me  is  very  grateful 
and  very  comforting.     This  last  word  may  seem  a  confession 

^  Mr,  Vaughan  had  just  published  his  book  on  "  Christian  Evidences 
and  the  Bible,"  which  bore  this  dedication  :  "To  my  honoured  friend, 
John  M'Leod  Campbell,  formerly  minister  of  Row,  this  little  volume  is 
respectfully  dedicated  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  many  invaluable 
lessons  learned  from  his  works." 


90 


MEMORIALS.  CHAP.  xi. 


that  encouragement  has  not  over-balanced  disappointment 
in  my  endeavours  to  commend  to  others,  through  the  press, 
the  apprehensions  of  truth  which  have  appeared  to  me  calls 
to  publishing ;  and  it  is  such  a  confession  as  to  the  hope 
with  which  I  first  published.  But,  on  the  whole,  I  think 
that  I  may  have  calculated  on  getting  the  ear  of  the  church 
more  than  was  reasonable  ;  and  I  certainly  am  very  thankful 
for  the  measure  of  response  that  comes  to  me  from  time  to 
time,  and  in  ways  that  justify  the  hope  that  there  must  be 
much  response  that  never  reaches  me.  Accept  my  true 
thanks. 

Your  letter  has  found  me  just  about  to  write  to  you,  to 
say  to  you  how  much  I  feel  indebted  to  you  for  the  happi- 
ness, and,  I  believe,  important  benefit,  which  being  with 
your  brother.  Dr.  Vaughan,  has  been  to  my  son. 

You  say  nothing  of  your  summer  plans,  or  the  disposal  of 
any  holiday  time  you  may  allow  to  yourself.  If  you  can 
kindly  include  Partick  in  your  plan,  let  me  know  as  soon  as 
you  know  yourself. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

PoLLOC,  2ist  May,  1865. 

.  .  .  I  am  again  having  summer  weather  here,  and  Mr. 
Erskine  and  I  have  pleasant  walks  together ;  and  Sir  John, 
though  weakly,  is  well  enough  to  enjoy  having  us  \vith  him  in 
the  evening.  His  great  suffering  during  this  attack  seems  to 
have  been  mingled  with  much  comfort  through  faith ;  so  as 
to  make  the  prevailing  expression  of  his  face,  as  well  as  of 
his  words  in  referring  to  it,  to  be  thankfulness.  We  expect 
Mr.  Maurice's  Oxford  son  here  to-morrow. 

The  beauty  of  this  day  is  very  great.  We  have  been  at 
church.  Mr.  Erskine  and  I  walked  home  from  church.  The 
beauty  of  the  trees  is  perfect,  and  of  the  fields,  and  of  the 
sky,  and  of  the  river  also;  and  the  cattle  and  the  sheep 


1864-66.  ORDINATION.  91 

pasturing  are  elements  in  the  scene  which  add  the  interest 
of  life  \  and  the  birds  are  very  vocal  with  joyous  notes. 
How  vague  and  indefinite  the  sense  of  the  enjoyableness 
which  belongs  to  this  whole,  and  of  oneness  in  the  impres- 
sion received  from  such  varied  elements  !  The  "  Backs  '^ 
must  be  in  their  greatest  beauty,  and  I  am  glad  that  my 
John  sees  them  as  I  saw  them.  They  remain  with  me  still 
in  the  album  of  memory,  with  its  coloured  photographs. 
But  I  go  back  to  other  elements  of  Cambridge  as  it  was  to 
me  with  still  more  interest ;  with  most  interest  to  our  re- 
ceiving the  bread  and  the  wine  together  at  St.  Mary's. 


Laurel  Bank,  nth  June,  1S65,  6.40  p.m. 

By  this  time  the  solemn  rite  of  your  ordination  is  some 
hours  in  the  past.  I  read  the  Ordination  Service  to  your 
mother  after  breakfast  to  help  her  realization  of  it.  .  .  • 
I  seem  to  myself  to  be  in  these  days  realizing  what  it  is  to 
enter  on  the  ministry  more  than  I  did  even  when  receiving 
ordination  myself.  But  if  it  is  a  solemn  thing  to  be  a 
clergyman,  it  is  a  solemn  thing  to  be  a  man ;  the  former  is 
the  latter  carried  to  a  higher  power.  No  clergjinan  can 
look  hopefully  into  the  future  with  a  well-grounded  hope,, 
excepting  in  so  far  as  he  knows  his  sufficiency  to  be  in 
Christ ;  but  no  more  can  any  man  who  has  come  to  look  for 
life  only  in  God's  favour.  To  be  oneself  a  "living  epistle" 
of  the  love  of  God,  as  it  is  the  caUing  of  every  man,  is  also 
the  first  aspect  of  the  calling  of  a  clergyman.  "  Take  heed 
unto  thyself  and  to  thy  doctrine."  I  do  not  forget  that  there 
is  an  important  addition  to  "  take  heed  unto  thyself,"  in  the 
words  "and  to  thy  doctrine;"  but  I  am  persuaded  if  all 
that  is  implied  in  taking  due  heed  unto  oneself  were  more 
realized,  the  addition  would  be  seen  to  be  less  in  proportion 
than  it  usually  seems. 


92  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

To  Mr.  Erskine. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  7th  June,  1865. 

My  beloved  Friend, — I  know  you  will  be  feeling  the 
death  of  this  friend.  Sir  John  Maxwell,  who  loved  you  and 
had  such  faith  in  you,  a  great  blank  in  the  circle  of  remain- 
ing personal  interests.  You  must  be  thankful  that  you 
waited  with  him  to  the  close.  I  have  no  doubt  that  you 
have  been  more  to  him  in  this  last  visit,  and  even  in  these 
forty-eight  hours  of  suffering,  than  you  can  yourself  easily  be- 
lieve. We  never  are  to  others  all  we  desire  to  be,  or  all  that 
we  feel  that  we  might  be,  abiding  more  in  Christ.  Yet  know- 
ing what  others  are  to  us  in  our  need  beyond  what  they 
themselves  know,  we  may  trust  that  we  do  not  altogether 
fail  in  seeking  to  meet  the  purpose  of  our  Father's  love  in 
making  us  members  one  of  another.  And  yet  we  know 
that  we  do  greatly  fail ;  and  then  our  comfort  is  that  our 
friends  have  a  Friend  who  is  the  perfect  Brother  born  for 
their  adversity,  whose  sympathy  is  the  fountain  of  our 
sympathy — a  full  fountain,  however  its  flow  through  us  is 
hindered;  not  dependent  on  us  for  its  outflowing,  but 
having  many  channels ;  above  all,  having  an  immediate  in- 
flowing into  each  heart  independent  of  all  channels.  In 
thinking  of  my  friends,  and  what  I  would  be  to  them  and 
am  not,  I  often  feel  in  this  relation  what  dear  Maurice  so 
beautifully  expresses  as  to  another  relation,  when  he  makes 
the  Layman  in  his  Family  Worship  say,  "  The  sight  of 
my  children,  the  thought  of  what  they  are,  and  what  they 
are  to  be — yes,  my  friend,  I  must  hope  that  they  have  a 
better  father  than  I  have  ever  been  or  ever  can  be  to  them."  ^ 

Mrs.  Stirling  will  feel  with  you;   for  she  had  manifest 
pleasure  in  seeing  the  pleasure  he  had  in  being  with  you. 
I  myself  feel  Sir  John's  death  as  that  of  one  who  has  shown 
^  Family  Worship,  p.  216. 


1864-66.  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULTIES.  93. 

nie  much  kindness,  which  I  liave  sought  to  return  in  words 
that  might  help  his  spirit,  as  opportunity  has  been  given  to 
me.  Many  will  feel  his  removal  in  many  ways.  I  feel 
much  for  his  attached  domestics. 

Young  Maurice  will  write  to  you  from  Carluke.  He 
went  there  yesterday.  I  feel  much  drawn  to  him.  Our 
James  will  be  delighted — as  any  of  us  who  can  do  so  will — 
to  accept  your  kind  invitation. 

Please  give  my  very  kind  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Stirling. 
Mrs.  Campbell  joins  me  in  this,  and  desires  to  do  so  also  in 
my  love  to  you,  dear,  dear  friend. — Yours  ever, 

John  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  5th  July,  1865. 

My  dear  Mr.  Vaughan, — I  am  very  thankful  for  your 
Christian  Evidences  and  the  Bible.  I  think  the  order  in 
which  you  present  the  claims  of  Christianity  on  our  faith, 
and  the  question  of  Inspiration,  the  right  order ;  and  I  am 
most  thankful  for  the  tone  in  which  you  ask  that  attention 
to  it  which  it  seems  to  me  most  important  that  it  should 
receive,  if  our  advocacy  of  our  faith  is  not  to  be  embarrassed 
by  the  defence  of  untenable  positions. 

I  have  longed  to  say  this  to  you  ;  but  have  delayed  writ- 
ing until  I  should  have  finished  the  volume,  which  I  did 
only  two  days  ago ;  having  had  many  interruptions  from 
being  from  home,  and,  where  I  have  been,  suspending  my 
own  reading  to  allow  friends  to  make  some  acquaintance 
with  it.  These  friends  have  been  among  the  most  valued  of 
those  with  whom  my  bond  is  the  highest :  and  they  also 
are  thankful  for  what  you  have  written,  and  will  add  this 
defence  of  Christianity  to  their  libraries.  One  of  these 
friends  is  Mr.  Erskine  of  Linlathen,  whose  name,  and  whose 
writings  also,  you  probably  know. 


94  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

My  commendation  is  of  the  book  as  a  whole,  and  embraces 
both  the  matter  and  the  spirit  of  it.  There  are  questions  of 
detail  as  to  which  I  wish  we  had  opportunity  of  free  con- 
verse ;  some  things  being  difficulties  to  your  mind  which 
have  not  been  such  to  me ;  as  they  have  not  presented 
themselves  to  me  in  that  light  in  which  they  would  be  diffi- 
culties. Thus  Samuel's  "  hewing  Agag  in  pieces  before  the 
Lord,"  has  not  had  to  me  the  character  of  an  act  expressive  of 
individual  character, — an  instance  of,  as  I  have  heard  it 
called,  "  cold-blooded  cruelty."  The  history  of  the  whole 
transaction  is  so  connected  with  the  large  questio7i  of  the  re- 
lation to  God  in  which  the  leaders  of  the  children  of  Israel 
believed  themselves  to  stand,  as  employed  by  Him  to  exe- 
cute His  judgment,  and  of  the  reasonableness  of  believing 
that  they  were  justified  in  this,  that  I  have  been  reconciled 
to  it  (as  to  the  whole  of  which  it  is  a  part)  only  by  making  a 
distinction  between  the  moral  state  implied  in  punishing  by 
divine  authority,  and  acting  under  the  power  of  the  fleshly 
feelings  of  Avrath,  or  revenge,  or  ambition,  or  pride  of  victory, 
which  originate  "  man's  inhumanity  to  man." 

I  do  not  know  how  far  you  would  be  prepared  to  recog- 
nise this  distinction ;  yet  I  do  not  know  how  to  justify  the 
history  of  the  taking  possession  of  the  land  by  the  children 
of  Israel  on  any  lower  ground.  As  the  act  of  God,  the 
destruction  of  those  whose  "  iniquity  was  full"  was  the  same, 
whether  by  "the  sword,  or  pestilence,  or  famine,"  or  by 
an  earthquake,  or  deluge,  or  fire  from  heaven.  As  the  act 
of  men  it  was  separated  from  ordinary  invasions  and  con- 
quests by  the  consciousness  of  being  God's  instruments 
(and  indeed  often  unwilling  instruments)  which  was  peculiar 
to  it.  I  am  but  indicating  the  state  of  mind  on  this  subject 
in  which  your  treatment  of  this  class  of  difficulties  has  found 
me.  You  know  how,  apart  from  the  consciousness  of  special 
divine  authority  which  this  history  claims,  we  recognize  an 
analogous  difference  between  the  infliction  of  death,  in  the 


1864-66.  KILNINVER  SUNSETS.  95 

use  of  the  sword  committed  to  the  magistrate,  and  murder. 
I,  of  course,  have  been  ahvays  assuming  that  God  could  give 
the  certain  knowledge  that  a  command  to  slay  was  from  Him, 
and  believing  that  in  these  cases  He  had  done  so.     . 

I  have,  without  intending  it,  entered  on  a  subject  too  diffi- 
cult to  be  satisfactorily  noticed  in  this  way. 

I  trust  your  anxieties  about  your  mother  have  been  fully 
relieved.  I  know  the  cleaving  of  heart  to  an  aged  parent 
which  you  have  been  feeling  :  my  father  lived  to  eighty-five. 

With  our  united  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Vaughan  and  your- 
self, and  the  renewed  expression  of  thankfulness  for  this  valu- 
able word  in  season  to  the  church,  your  affectionate  friend, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wylie. 

Saltcoats,  4th  August,  1865. 

We  are  here  enjoying  the  pure  air  of  this  sea-board,  and 
the  endless  interest  of  Arran,  far  enough  off  to  be  seen  as  a 
whole,  yet  not  too  far  for  the  distinct  vision  of  its  grand 
features ;  and  my  binocular  has  put  me  on  a  level  with  other 
people,  or  nearly  so.  Using  it,  felt  like  looking  at  nature 
across  twenty-five  years  ! 

Our  last  evening  sunset  was  one  of  the  finest  I  ever  en- 
joyed. My  Kilninver  choicest  memories  are  of  sunsets : 
and  Arran  from  Saltcoats  is  sufficiently  like  Mull  from  Kil- 
ninver to  revive  these  with  unusual  vividness.  Mull  from 
Kilninver  last  evening  would  be  just  what  now  rises  before  my 
mind's  eye,  with  all  the  elements  of  the  glorious  scene,  earth, 
sea,  and  sky,  excepting  only  the  human  figures  that  repre- 
sented "  man,"  mind,  thought,  feeling. 

Of  these,  as  they  reappear  in  giving  this  or  that  date  to 
the  "  visions  splendid,"  my  own  alone  still  belongs  to  this 

visible. 

"Not lost,  but  gone  before." 


96  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

2o  Miss  Duncan, 

Saltcoats,  19th  August,  1865. 
.  .  ,  How  I  would  welcome  your  utterance  of  feeling 
in  unison  with  what  the  glorious  vision  of  Arran,  as  we  see 
it  from  this,  moves  me  to !  Sometimes  I  gaze  long  in  silence ; 
and  then  feel  it  a  pleasure  to  say,  "  How  beautiful  !"  "  how 
glorious  ! "  for  the  hundredth  time  :  yet  not  without  some- 
what of  varied  meaning,  according  as  the  light  is  that  of 
morning,  or  noon-day,  or  evening ;  and  the  sky  cloudless,  or 
clouded,  and  with  clouds  that  partly  embrace  the  mountain- 
tops,  or  only  throw  light  shadows  on  their  slopes  and  glens; 
or,  as  last  evening,  are  contributing  their  part  to  the  gorgeous 
sky  scenery  of  a  glorious  sunset.  Arran  itself,  the  light 
coming  from  beyond  it,  presented  only  its  own  majestic  like- 
ness in  profile ;  the  outline  sharply  cut  against  the  golden 
atmosphere  beyond,  but  itself  simply  a  dark  purple  screen, 
and — except  as  to  outline — featureless,  showing  no  distinc- 
tion of  receding  bay,  or  deep  glen,  or  wooded  base,  or 
heathery  or  green  slope, — its  expression  a  grand  repose ; 
while  the  variously  tinted  clouds  that  floated  in  the  golden 
sunset,  recalled  Wilson's  "glory  moving  on,"  with  "in  its 
very  motion  rest."  But  as  I  sat  drinking  in  the  beauty  and 
the  solemnity  of  the  scene,  I  was  not  contented  to  rest  in 
what  I  saw,  or  felt  from  it  as  from  music,  but  found  myself 
passing  to  the  higher  light, — what  it  reveals  and  glorifies, — 
what  //  is ;  and  then  thankfulness  for  being  made  capable  of 
seeing  this  "  burning  west,"  and  of  being  so  affected  by  its 
beauty,  gave  place  to  thankfulness  for  the  spiritual  eye 
opened  in  me,  by  which  I  saw  the  Eternal  Light  and  the 
Eternal  Beauty ;  thankfulness  that  was  much  mingled  with 
self-condemnation,  as  I  reflected,  that  what  my  bodily  eye 
took  in  was  what  is  but  seldom  to  be  seen,  as  time  and 
place  and  many  uncertain  circumstances  might  combine ; 
while  that  which  my  spiritual  eye  saw,  is  an  ever-present 


1864-66.  THE  SPIRITUAL  EYE.  97 

glory,  to  be  seen  wherever  the  eye  opens  on  it ;  and  yet  my 
memories  of  it  were  of  what  had  been  seen  only  at  long  in- 
tervals, as  my  memories  of  glorious  sunsets,  such  as  I  now 
enjoyed,  but  here  intervals  not  of  necessity,  but  in  a  solemn 
sense  of  choice.  I  say  "  z>z  a  sense  of  choice,"  because  I  do 
not  in  reality  feel  that  the  opening  of  the  eye  that  sees  the 
spiritual,  so  that  the  spirit  is  flooded  with  its  proper  light,  is 
so  simple  a  matter,  or  so  absolutely  to  be  determined  by  a 
mere  volition,  as  the  opening  of  the  bodily  eye.  That 
"glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ"  we  do  not  see  in 
its  brightness  simply  by  turning  to  it.  For  such  vision 
beyond  habitual  faith  we  wait  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  have 
it  not,  as  bodily  vision,  in  our  own  hand.  But  still  we  know 
that  he  that  soweth  bountifully  reaps  bountifully. 

I  thank  you  for  making  these  teachings  of  Ruskin's  known 
to  me.  Men  speak  of  "half  truths"  as  "positive  errors." 
Over-stated  truths  do  also  approach  the  character  of  false 
teachings.  But  I  do  not  feel  it  easy  to  cut  down  to  the 
measure  of  sober  truth  Ruskin's  strong  utterances  even  in 
thought ;  and  would  find  it  very  difficult  in  writing. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  loth  September,  1865. 

[After  speaking  of  a  sermon  on  conversion  which  he  had 
been  reading :]  That  no  man  knoweth  the  things  of  God 
save  the  Spirit  of  God — that  spiritual  things  are  spiritually 
discerned — that  we  must  be  all  taught  of  God:  such 
language,  as  asserting  what  is  true  of  the  divine  life  in  its 
whole  course,  and  not  merely  of  a  first  starting,  is  what 
seems  to  me  inculcated  by  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles  ;  and 
therefore  I  do  not  think  that  the  great  prominence  given 
to  the  first  clear  vision  of  Christ  which  has  caused  peace 
and  joy  in  believing,  is  in  harmony  with  the  highest  example 
of  preaching. 

VOL.  11.  G 


98  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

I  know  that  usually  men  are  found  needing  conversion, 
and  that  it  is  of  infinite  importance  that  partial  yieldings 
to  divine  light — measures  of  seriousness  and  earnestness 
— measures  of  change  of  walk  and  conversation,  which 
are  altogether  short  of  knowing  Christ,  or  salvation, 
should  not  be  rested  in,  or  set  down  at  more  than  they 
are  worth,  as  what  may  issue  in  good,  but  are  not  in  them- 
selves life  from  the  dead.  But  I  feel,  as  to  the  difference 
between  the  New  Testament  teaching  and  what  I  distinguish 
from  it,  that  the  one  would  naturally  occupy  the  mind  with 
the  life  now  known  in  abiding  in  Christ;  the  other  with  the 
crisis  of  conversion  and  the  safety  and  security  into  which  it 
has  been  the  introduction.  No  one  has,  or  could  have, 
worked  more  than  I  have  done  with  "  Assurance  of  Faith," 
as  that  the  demand  for  which  is  the  most  effective  instru- 
ment for  awakening.  But  I  am  satisfied  that  there  is  an 
unhealthy  occupation  with  conversion,  which  hinders  the 
development  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  us. 

In  truth,  in  the  time  of  conversion  it  is  not  "  that  we  are 
converted,"  but  "that  we  apprehend  Christ,"  which  is  our 
peace ;  and  this  is  that  "  beginning  of  out  confidence" 
which  to  hold  "  to  the  end"  makes  us  to  be  "  the  House 
of  Christ." 

In  connection  with  this  subject  I  often  feel  that  High- 
Churchmen  and  Low-Churchmen  would  be  brought  to- 
gether if  they  were  simply  realizing  the  Eternal  Life  given  to 
us  in  Christ,  the  power  to  be  the  sons  of  God  which  we 
have  in  Him.  No  High-Churchman  who  has  any  living 
knowledge  of  Christianity,  would  trust  his  own  salvation  or 
that  of  another  to  Baptismal  Regeneration.  No  Low- 
Churchman  abiding  in  Christ  as  a  branch  in  the  vine,  and 
hearing  his  Lord's  voice  saying,  "  Abide  in  me,"  falls  back 
on  the  vision  of  Christ  which  first  gave  him  peace,  as  if  the 
fact  of  having  had  that  vision  was  now  his  peace,  or  as  if 
anything  could  be  peace  to  him  but  that  that  vision  was  true 


1864-66.  MANNING  AND  NEWMAN  99 

— that  Christ  was,  and  is,  and  abideth  ever  what  then  he 
apprehended  Him  to  be — what,  with  an  apprehension  clearer 
and  deeper,  according  to  his  own  spiritual  development,  he 
now  knows  Him  to  be. 


To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

Laurel  Bank,  29th  September,  1865. 

My  dear  Bishop, — I  have  been  from  home,  which  has 
caused  your  letter  to  be  so  long  unacknowledged.  I  am 
happy  to  think  that,  though  still  so  far  from  strong,  you  have 
come  back  to  us  so  much  better  than  you  were  going  away. 

I  was  made  acquainted  with  this  book  of  Dr.  Manning's 
some  time  ago  by  a  friend  who  valued  it  as  accepting  fully 
its  conclusions.  I  have  not  seen  anything  that  may  have 
been  offered  to  the  church  as  an  answer ;  nor  do  I  know  of 
any  formal  reply.  I  feel  with  you  that  most  Protestants 
would  take  what  we  would  regard  as  too  low  ground ;  and  I 
would  be  very  thankful  for  an  argument  on  the  claim  made 
for  Rome  which  was  conducted  in  the  light  of  the  high  pur- 
pose of  Revelation  as  a  help  to  personal  knowledge  of  God ; 
and  not, — in  itself,  or  in  conjunction  with  the  church, — a 
substitute  for  such  knowledge.  Dr.  Ne\vman  says,  knowledge 
of  God  implies  an  infallible  record  and  an  infallible  inter- 
preter. To  hold  these  essential  is  to  ignore  all  other  witness; 
to  hold  these  sufficient,  assuming  that  we  possess  them,  is  to 
come  short  of  the  true  apprehension  of  the  divine  purpose 
of  self-revelation ;  the  attaining  of  which  implies  a  seeing 
light  in  light  as  the  condition  to  which  man  is  brought. 

As  to  juy  attempting  the  task  of  showing  the  root-error  as 
to  the  nature  of  religion  in  Dr.  Manning's  argument,  I  could 
only,  if  I  made  the  attempt,  apply  the  teaching  of  the 
"  Thoughts  on  Revelation  "  to  his  statements.  I  could  not 
go  deeper.     But  even  this  I  do  not  feel  equal  to ;  that  is  to 


loo  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

say,  by  writing;  for  as  I  read  I  went  through  the  process 
mentally,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  my  own  mind.  But 
when  I  attempt  to  write  I  immediately  propose  to  myself  a 
more  exhaustive  treatment  of  my  subject  than  I  can  (now, 
at  least)  accomplish. 

I  received  both  your  tokens  of  remembrance  safely,  and 
have  had  also,  from  Mr.  Erskine,  your  letter  to  him  to  which 
you  refer.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  tendency  of  things  is  to 
force  thoughtful  minds  to  take  "  true  measure  "  of  what  they 
really  know  of  their  "  eternal  treasure."  One  portion  of 
those  who  shrink  from  falling  back  on  the  inherent  authority 
of  light  are  themselves — though  they  may  not  consider  it  so 
— illustrations  of  the  soundness  of  that  principle.  I  refer  to 
persons  who  have  become  the  subjects  of  a  true  and  deejD 
religious  awakening.  For  the  confidence  with  which  they 
speak  of  the  realities  in  which  they  rejoice  is  altogether 
referable  to  a  seeing  light  as  light.  So  far  as  mere  authority 
goes  there  has  been  no  change.  What  they  believe  they 
never  doubted;  but  they  now  know  it  to  be  true  as  they 
never  did  before. 

I  would  wish  to  induce  such  persons  to  say  distinctly  to 
themselves  what  the  difference  is  between  their  former  hold 
of  truth  and  that  which  they  have  come  to  have.     .     .     . 

P.S. — The  weight  we  are  to  attach  to  the  "originality  and 
integrity  of  Rome  "  is  determined  by  the  character  of  Chris- 
tianity as  light,  ever,  and  from  moment  to  moment,  its  own 
present  witness.  When  we  know  what  we  possess  in  Chris- 
tianity we  know  what  place  to  give  to  the  details  of  the  his- 
tory of  its  coming  into  our  possession.  The  power  to  shake 
faith  put  forth  by  historical  criticism  in  our  time,  it  possesses 
only,  I  believe,  in  virtue  of  our  error  in  making  our  appeal  so 
much  to  the  history  of  Revelation,  rather  than  to  the  char- 
acter of  that  which  is  revealed.  Doubtless  that  history  har- 
monizes with  that  character;  and  in  harmonizing  adds  a 
commendation.     The  angels  who  sung,  **  Glory  to  God  in 


1864-66.  ''SPIRITUAL  CRITICISM."  loi 

the  highest ;  on  earth  peace,  goodwill  towards  men,"  were 
the  fitting  choir  for  such  a  song.  But  we  rather  believe  that 
they  were  angels  who  so  sung  than  that  the  song  is  divine 
because  they  sung  it, 

J.  M'L.  C. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  ist  October,  1865. 

.  .  .  This  day  week,  a  most  beautiful  day,  I  passed  at 
Auchnafree.  ...  I  expounded  the  15th  chapter  of 
St.  John's  Gospel.  You  have,  I  know,  heard  me  going  over 
the  first  part  of  that  chapter  more  or  less  fully  at  different 
times;  and  sometimes  I  am  drawn  to  dwell  on  one  verse  and 
sometimes  on  another.  I  always  pass  from  such  occupation 
with  the  light  shed  on  our  relation  to  Christ  by  the  aspect 
of  it  presented  in  the  words,  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the 
branches,"  with  a  fresh  sense  of  the  sacredness  and  the 
excellence  of  man's  life  as  the  Eternal  Life  which  God  has 
given  to  us  in  his  Son ;  and  its  very  excellence  is  increas- 
ingly felt  by  me  to  be  an  argument  for  the  faith  that  it 
7-eany  is  given.  It  seems  an  ideal  so  worthy  of  God  to  con- 
ceive, and  so  proportioned  to  the  greatness  of  the  price  of 
our  redemption ;  while  that  price,  and  the  provision  for  the 
realization  of  this  high  ideal  which  is  revealed,  seem  so 
adequate  to  the  result  contemplated,  that  the  end  and  the 
means  mutually  sustain  faith  in  each  other. 

You  know  that  I  expect  much  as  to  the  elucidation  of 
Scripture  from  a  study  of  the  Scripture  in  the  faith  of  the 
harmony  and  cohesion  of  truth,  which  it  is  the  appropriate 
task  of  what  I  may  call  "  spiritual  criticism  "  to  discern  and 
trace — a  task  to  be  pursued  hopefully  irrespective  of  textual 
criticism  or  historical  criticism.  Nor  is  my  own  being 
tuifurjiished  for  either  of  these  the  reason  of  my  venturing  to 
proceed  without  them  as  being  what  alone  is  open  to  me. 


I02  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

I  have  now  the  experience  of  exactly  forty  years  in  this  path 
of  study  of  the  Scriptures ;  and  my  assurance  of  being  in 
the  hght  of  what  I  read  has  grown  with  the  gradual  increase 
of  my  apprehension  of  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures  sought 
and  reached  in  this  way.  That  is  to  say,  the  portions  of 
Scripture  which  have  seemed  to  me  to  have  their  meaning 
fixed  by  the  very  character  of  the  meaning  which  they  have 
suggested,  have  given  forth  that  meaning  with  more  and 
more  clearness  the  longer  I  have  dwelt  upon  it.  Also,  the 
meaning  of  some  passages  so  reached  has  immediately  shed 
light  on  other  passages;  and  this  not  only  because  of  the 
unity  in  the  teachings  of  the  individual  men,  but  also 
because  of  the  unity  in  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth 
who  spoke  by  men.  This  unity,  when  discerned,  is  the 
highest  evidence  that  what  we  read  is  inspired  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  well  as  the  clearest  proof  that  we  are  come  to  the 
light  of  what  we  read.  In  proportion  as  we  understand 
Paul  and  James  and  John,  what  is  individual  and  distinctive 
is  lost  in  what  is  common.  This  experience  I  most  value, 
though  I  feel  interested  in  all  that  gives  them  individuality, 
and  helps  me  to  know  them  as  men. 


Laurel  Bank,  15th  October,  1865. 

.  .  .  I  am  naturally  taken  back  to  my  parting  with 
my  only  brother,  just  forty-four  years  ago.  He  left  Scotland 
for  India  just  about  this  time  of  year  in  1821,  though  he  did 
not  leave  London  until  1822  was  come  in,  when  he  was 
twenty.  I  remember  most  vividly  returning  to  Edinburgh 
after  parting  with  him  in  the  Leith  smack  which  took  him 
to  London,  and  the  intense  agony  of  loneliness  in  which 
I  threw  myself  on  a  bed  in  the  lodgings  in  which  we  had 
been  together.  ...  In  whatever  dimness  of  faith,  we 
were  cast  on  Him  who  had  given  us  to  each  other.  Surely 
the  response  which  the  cry  of  unconscious  infancy  has  in 


1864-66.  THE  BISHOP  OF  LONDON.  103 

the  mother's  heart,  has  its  parallel  in  the  divine  response  to 
what  is  a  cry  of  need  belonging  to  what  one  may  think  of  as 
the  unconscious  infancy  of  our  divine  life. 

I  was  to  tell  you  something  of  my  meeting  with  your 
bishop.^  .  .  .  Of  course  Norman  himself  and  the  bishop 
naturally  spoke  most.  Indeed  I  should  have  got  nothing  said 
of  what  I  desired  to  speak  had  not  the  bishop,  more  than 
once,  directed  his  remarks  to  me,  inviting  the  expression  of 
my  thoughts.  This  was  on  such  topics  as  Newman's 
Apologia,  and  Manning's  recent  publications.  He  had  just 
come  from  the  Highlands,  where  he  had  been  at  Balla- 
chulish  with  the  Bishop  of  Argyll,  whose  recent  sojourn  in 
Sicily  and  Italy  has  caused  him  to  be  much  engrossed  with 
the  questions  between  the  Church  of  Rome  and  Protestants, 
and  more  particularly  the  Church  of  England  Protestantism. 

Pusey's  recent  letter  to  Keble  also  had  been  in  their 
hands,  but  I  had  not  (and  have  not)  seen  it.  It  is  intended 
as  the  reassertion  of  the  teaching  of  the  "Tracts  for  the 
Times,"  with  a  justification  of  himself  in  not  having  gone  on 
to  stand  where  Newman  stands.  The  bishop  had  not  read 
it  all,  I  think ;  but  had  read  enough  to  be  dissatisfied  with 
it,  though  how  he  would  himself  deal  with  the  questions 
raised  I  was  not  quite  able  to  gather,  and  I  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  attempting  to  ascertain.  What  a  difficult  position 
his  is  at  this  time !  and  how  difficult  it  must  be  for  him  to 
command  leisure  for  quiet  thought  with  the  immense 
demands  on  his  time. 

To  his  Second  Son: 

Wlw  was  tJten  starting  for  India. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  October,  1865. 

.    .     .     Your  parting  from  Donald  has  been  taking  me 
back  to  my  brother's  parting  from  me,  forty-four  years  ago. 
^  The  Bishop  of  London,  Dr.  Tait. 


104  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

I  was  left  alone  as  to  my  loss,  my  only  sister  being  before 
him  my  only  brother.  But  he  had  the  advantage  over  you 
that  he  had  his  sister  to  welcome  him.  But  the  parting 
was  of  brothers  in  both  cases ;  and  the  true  comfort  for 
such  a  time — whether  more  or  less  tasted — the  one  comfort 
is  the  love  which  gives  brother  to  brother.  How  dimly  did  I 
see  that  love  then  !  How  dimly  do  I  see  it  now  in  com- 
parison of  its  own  full  light  shining  in  Christ. 

This  is  a  dull  misty  day  after  a  bright  summer  day  yester- 
day. I  do  not  know  how  far  you  share  with  Lady  Randolph 
a  preference  for  external  harmonies  with  "  the  sullen  sad- 
ness ;"  but  I  think  when  the  sadness  has  so  many  elements 
of  comfort  as  yours  now  has.  a  bright  day  can  be  welcomed. 


17th  October,  1S65. 

.  .  .  One  reason  for  my  writing  by  this  mail  is,  that  I  have 
wished  that  some  home  words  of  welcome  should  greet  you 
on  your  arrival  at  Bombay.  I  feel  as  if  I  would  welcome 
you  to  manhood,  as  I  at  first  did  to  life.  Life  is  indeed  all  a 
seedtime  {an  education  as  Mr.  Erskine  says) ;  but  it  contains 
a  seedtime  and  a  harvest  within  itself,  while  as  a  whole, 
referring  to  a  harvest  beyond  \\.'&€ii;  and  you  are  now,  I  tmst, 
about  to  reap  what  you  have  been  sowing  in  the  youth  which 
is  now  passing  into  manhood.  For  a  few  months  I  know 
the  time  of  acquisition  stretches  into  the  time  of  action ;  and 
even  when  your  season  of  action  is  fully  come,  I  know  that 
progress  in  preferment  turns  in  part  on  acquisition.  .  .  . 
But  I  am  away  from  what  I  had  in  my  mind,  viz.,  your  wel- 
come to  the  life  of  action — action  influential  and  important 
to  others — the  usefiihiess  of  which  you  will  feel  its  true  inter- 
est ;  while  you  will  not  measure  its  usefulness  by  immediate 
results ;  for  much  of  it  may  be  hid  from  you,  and  what  is 
rather  to  be  taken  for  granted  because  you  have  done  your 
duty,  than  something  on  which  you  may  place  your  finger. 


1864-66.  LETTERS  TO  INDIA.  105 

I  warned  your  friend against  the  postponed  hope  of 

usefulness  which  turns  on  becoming  rich  and  influential,  say, 
as  a  country  gentleman — his  ideal  of  an  useful  position. 
But  there  is  an  accumulation  of  fitness  for  future  useful- 
ness which  goes  on  pari  passu  with  the  present  usefulness 
implied  in  the  discharge  of  present  duty  :  I  mean  the  grad- 
ual development  of  oneself, — such  a  development  as  must 
have  been  long  going  on  in  such  men  as  Mr.  Donald 
Macleod,  and  Sir  John  Lawrence  also,  though  of  his  spirit 
I  have  had  no  taste.  But  Mr.  Macleod  impressed  me 
most  highly. 

.  .  .  My  darling  son,  may  God  bless  you,  and  make 
you  a  blessing. 

17th  November,  1865. 

.  .  .  Your  fine  weather  while  in  the  Mediterranean  it 
is  most  pleasant  to  think  of;  but  I  grudge  much  your  passing 
through  Egypt  in  the  dark :  only  your  moonlight  would  be 
all  the  more  a  compensation  for  the  absence  of  the  sun,  that 
moon  and  stars  are  so  much  brighter  than  with  us.  I  re- 
member your  uncle  used  to  dwell  much  on  this  advantage  of 
eastern  or  rather  southern  skies,  over  our  murky  north.  The 
sight  of  the  pyramids,  which  you  have  (so  far)  lost,  affected 
him  very  much,  and  drew  from  him  some  expressions  of 
feeling  which  had  welled  up  from  his  deeper  nature.  I  have 
the  same  recollection  of  his  feelings  at  Athens.  But  I  only 
remember  the  deep  response  which  his  words  aroused,  not 
what  these  words  expressed.  His  active  life  and  social  life, 
with  so  much  of  outside  superficial  interest,  and  in  a  circle 
in  which  were  few,  if  any,  minds  from  which  he  could  have 
the  response  on  which  he  calculated  from  me,  caused  much 
of  what  /  most  valued  in  him  to  remain  unknown  to  his 
ordinary  friends,  who,  nevertheless,  valued  him  much  for 
what  they  did  know  in  him.  How  much  remains  unde- 
veloped of  their  higher  nature  in  men  !     I  do  not  mean  their 


io6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

highest  nature,  but  what  is  high  though  not  the  highest. 
Lack  of  external  influences  of  the  fitting  kind  causes  this 
in  part.  But  though  neither  his  work  nor  his  associates  be 
helpful  in  this  view,  one  who  has  awakened  to  the  duty  and 
the  privilege  of  self-education  may  find  in  the  world  of  nature, 
and  in  that  of  mind  as  brought  within  his  reach  in  books, 
much  that  he  can  turn  to  good  account ;  and,  being  deve- 
loping himself,  he  will  find  in  those  around  him,  if  not  such 
as  can  help  him,  still,  those  whom  he  can  help  ;  and  here  it 
is  important  to  have  faith  in  the  capacity,  however  dormant, 
of  others. 

I  knew  two  young  officers  once  in  whom  I  found  a  taste 
for  literature,  unusual  in  the  army ;  and  I  found  they  owed 
it,  as  they  thankfully  acknowledged,  entirely  to  their  captain 
(afterwards  my  friend.  Sir  Duncan  M'Dougall),  whose  subal- 
terns they  were.  He  did  not  find  them  different  from  other 
young  men,  or  having  already  tastes  kindred  to  his  own  ;  but 
as  their  captain  he  was  brought  into  a  near  relation  with 
them,  which  he  sought  to  turn  to  account  for  their  improve- 
ment. Nor  was  his  influence  limited  to  them  ;  he,  I  believe, 
gave  a  tone  to  the  mess.  If  we  do  not  selfishly  consider 
what  men  have  in  them  that  we  can  like,  but  rather  how  we 
may  help  them  to  become  what  we  would  like,  we  shall  find 
much  social  usefulness  within  our  reach,  and  a  special  inter- 
est added  to  life.  Of  course,  there  are  limits  in  men's  indi- 
vidual capacities,  and  some  things  you  may  find  within  your 
own  reach,  an  to  which  you  cannot  invite  some  others  to 
share  in  your  enjoyment  however  refined ;  as,  for  example, 
all  that  your  capacity  for  drawing,  and  the  eye  for  nature 
which  that  implies,  give  you.  But  there  is  a  wide  field  to 
which  this  does  not  apply ;  while  it  certainly  does  not  apply 
to  that  which  it  is  most  important  to  others  that  they  should 
share  with  us. 


1864-66.        PUSEY'S  LETTER  TO  KEBLE.  107 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  30th  November,  1865. 

.  .  .  I  have  just  finished  Pusey's  letter  to  Keble,  but 
have  the  P.S.  yet  to  read.  I  am  thankful  that  I  have  seen 
it.  It  has  added  greatly  to  my  apprehension  of  this  time, 
and  my  understanding  of  the  state  of  the  English  Church, 
and  of  Christendom  too,  as  seen  from  one  standpoint.  As  to 
Pusey  himself,  like  Newman's  Apologia  it  gives  me  more 
tenderness  for  the  man ;  while  it  entirely  confirms  my  pre- 
vious conviction  that  Tractarian  or  English  Catholicism  in 
no  way  differs  from  Roman  Catholicism  in  any  of  the  matters 
in  which  the  latter  has  been  regarded  by  me  as  in  funda- 
mental error.  It  does  indeed  separate  between  the  EngHsh 
Church  and  Romanism  in  some  points  of  serious  error,  but 
these  had  not  so  much  engaged  my  attention  :  nor  did  I  till 
now  know  the  exact  root,  or  the  development,  of  a  most 
important  one  of  these,  viz.,  Mariolatry ;  as  to  which  I  find 
his  feeling  both  of  its  error,  and  of  the  extent  of  its  develop- 
ment in  Roman  Catholic  people,  difficult  to  reconcile  with 
the  hope  of  union  of  Christendom  as  one  visible  churchy 
which  he  cherishes. 

As  to  the  most  important  other  point,  viz.,  the  place 
usurped  by — or  conceded  to — the  Bishop  of  Rome  as 
Pope,  his  (Dr.  Pusey's)  faith  in  the  infallibility  of  gene- 
ral councils  gives  him  a  comfort  in  the  expectation  of  the 
ascription  of  infallibility  being  confined  to  such  utterances 
of  the  voice  of  the  church  as  one  whole,  and  ceasing  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  Roman  See ;  in  which  I  cannot  share ;  my 
certainty  in  believing  what  I  believe  in  no  part  resting  on  its 
harmony  mth  the  decisions  of  the  general  councils  that  have 
been ;  although  I  recognize  a  certain  place  as  belonging  to 
these  as  light  in  so  far  as  they  were  testimonies  for  truth,  and 
against  error.     On  this  subject  Pusey  will  be  felt  by  Protes- 


io8  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xi 

tants  less  repulsive  than  Newman,  and — still  more — than 
Manning ;  but  this  at  the  price  of  presenting  less  attraction 
to  those  whose  feeling  of  uncertamty  has  prepared  them  to 
welcome  the  overtures  of  an  infallible  church.  An  infallible 
church  with  an  infallible  mouthpiece  to  utter  her  teaching  is 
enough  of  course  for  peace  if  her  credentials  are  accepted, 
a7id  if  the  spirit  is  so  wit  aught  as  to  be  able  to  find  rest  iji  the 
confidence  of  holding  true  dogmas.  But  an!  infallible  church 
with  no  infallible  mouthpiece  in  the  shape  of  living  men,  and 
whose  infallible  utterances  have  ceased  to  be  heard  since  the 
last  general  council,  dating  before  the  division  of  East  and 
West,  in  no  way  offers  what  the  word  "  infallible  "  promises 
to  the  perplexed  inquirer  of  our  time. 

I  have  not  finished  Robertson,^  alternating  Pusey  with 
him,  because  Pusey  I  could  read  at  night;  and  I 
cannot  now  attempt  to  say  more  than  a  little  of  what  this 
laying  bare  of  that  remarkable  mind  and  heart  and  spirit 
has  been  suggesting  to  me.  One  thing  that  met  me  early 
has  been  very  precious  to  me,  viz.,  the  clear  evidence  that 
the  Evangelicism  with  which  he  commenced  was  superficial, 
and  in  a  certain  sense  accepted  second-hand.  He  did  not, 
while  yet  an  Evangelical,  see  in  its  simplicity  and  as  the 
Apostle  teaches  it  in  the  3rd  of  Romans,  justification  by 
faith, — to  me,  as  it  was  to  Luther,  that  which  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  the  church.  This  I  see  very  clearly  from  his 
account  of  his  intercourse  with  Malan ;  whose  teaching  of 
assurance  he  met  on  ground  altogether  different  from  that  on 
what  I  met  it  when  I  saw  him  some  years  before  ;  though 
with  no  result  as  to  Malan,  for  he  said  to  Robertson  just 
what  he  had  said  to  me,  and  what  he  usually  said. 

But  I  must  stop  ;  to  begin  in  my  next  where  I  am  leaving 
off,  and  also  to  speak  of  the  great  comfort  with  which  I  was 

^  He  refers  to  the  Life  and  Letters  of  Frederick  W,  Robertson.  Edited 
by  Stopford  A.  Brooke,  M.A. 


1864-66.  LIFE  OF  F.  ROBERTSON.  109 

comforted  this  morning  by  the  words,  "All  power  is  given 
unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth  " — Matt,  xxviii.  1 8. 


5th  December. 

.  .  .  Robertson's  life  will  deepen  the  impression  made 
by  his  sermons,  both  in  the  case  of  those  who  value  his  free 
utterance  of  free  but  reverent  thought,  and  in  that  of  those 
who  regard  his  freedom  of  thought  as  dangerous,  alike  in  his 
refusal  of  recognition  to  the  form  of  Evangelicism  while 
admitting  its  root-truth,  and  in  his  recognition  of  a  root  of 
truth, — "  a  soul  of  good  in  things  evil " — in  Romanism  and 
Tractarianism,  while  as  to  them  also  witnessing  against  their 
form.  His  catholicity  was  a  genuine  catholicity,  while  its 
practical  issue — its  necessary  issue — was  isolation  and  soli- 
tariness ;  for  men  will  not  accept  our  acknowledgment  of  the 
good  we  see  in  them  while  we  separate  it  from  forms  of 
thought  with  which  they  themselves  identify  it.  It  is  too 
like  a  compliment  to  the  heart  at  the  expense  of  the  head. 
More  especially  will  they  not  accept  it  when  they  know  that 
we  make  the  same  analysis,  with  the  same  result  of  partial 
recognition,  in  the  case  of  others  in  whom  they  see  no  good. 
My  sympathy  with  Robertson,  however,  is  only  with  his 
attempting  it,  and  does  not  imply  that  I  make  the  same 
analysis  with  the  same  results.  I  am  sure  I  do  not  as  to 
Romanism ;  while  as  to  Evangelicism  I  am  not  sure  that  I 
know  what  it  is  in  its  essence  which  he  accepts. 

7th  December. 

.  .  .  I  did  not  mention  on  Sunday  how  much  your 
mother  and  I  had  enjoyed  Dr.  Vaughan's  sermon  in  the 
December  Good  Words,  which  she  read  to  me.  There  are 
other  regions  of  our  humanity  in  which  some  others  more 
draw  out  our  human  consciousness ;  but,  in  the  purely 
Christian  region,  in  which  the  Apostles  meet  us  (and  in  it 


no  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

almost  alone  they  meet  us),  Dr.  Vaughan  touches  more 
chords  that  vibrate  in  me  than  any  other  man  of  our  day. 
Not  that  even  in  this  region  I  meet  him  so  much  as  "a  man 
feeling  alone  with  God  "  as  I  feel  that  Luther  was  :  nor  do  I 
know  how  far  he  is  attaining  to  that  absolute  simplicity  of 
justifying  faith  which  I  discern  in  Luther.  A  human  spirit 
awakening  to  the  full  consciousness  of  sin,  and  to  the  sense 
of  the  righteous  condemnation  with  which  God  is  regarding 
it,  and  feeling  alone  with  God,  and  realizing  the  absolute 
dependence  on  His  will  which  is  implied  in  the  relation 
of  our  being  to  His,  and  discerning  in  God,  as  He  is  revealed 
in  Christ,  what  inspires  confidence  and  hope  of  all  good, 
— rendering  all  that  God  is  a  cause  of  rejoicing,  because 
it  is  all  the  perfection  of  God  the  Saviour; — such  is 
the  true  account  of  justifying  faith.  .  .  .  No  man 
whose  Evangelicism  had  attained  to  this  would  have  had 
to  depart  from  his  beginning,  and  seek  God  by  another 
path,  as  Robertson  seems  to  have  done.  That  he  truly 
sought  Him  and  truly  found  Him  I  have  no  doubt.  But  I 
am  jealous  of  all  that  depreciation  of  Evangelicism  which  I 
must  trace  to  his  not  having  found  in  it  what  was  thus  to  me 
its  root  and  essence. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Edinburgh,  i6th  December,  1865. 
.  .  .  Present  favourable  circumstances  only  promise  a 
good  start,  being  nothing  to  rest  in,  nor  any  assurance  that 
your  circumstances  may  not  often  be  in  the?nselves  undesir- 
able, and  such  as  will  make  your  happiness  dependent  rather 
on  the  consciousness  of  duty  discharged  in  them  than  on  what 
they  are.  So  long  as  this  consciousness  is  the  most  prized 
result,  and  is  a  result  arrived  at,  or  at  least  aimed  at,  in  the 
strength  of  faith  and  as  by  one  seeking  life  in  God's  favour, 
it  \vill  be  well  with  you :  whether  other  aspects  of  your 


1 864-66.        MA  CLEOD'S  SABBA  TH  SPEECH.  1 1 1 

course  be  bright  or  dark.  Thus,  also,  if  these  other  aspects 
be  bright,  that  brightness  will  be  healthfully  enjoyed;  if  they 
be  dark,  that  darkness  will  be  healthfully  submitted  to. 

You  will  believe  that  this  matter  of  Norman's  interests  me 
deeply.  I  shall  send  you  his  pamphlet  when  it  comes  out ; 
viz.,  his  speech  (corrected)  with  an  introduction  and  appen- 
dix. I  do  not  expect  that  it  is  to  shake  the  church,  or  to 
cause  his  ejection  from  it.  It  is  not  a  vital  question;  nor  is 
the  practical  result  very  different ;  the  liberties  taken  with 
the  Fourth  Commandment  by  those  who  maintain  its  obliga- 
tion being  such  as  bring  them  practically  to  Norman's 
observance  of  the  Lord's  day. 


To  one  of  his  Daughters. 

Edinburgh,  iSth  December,  1865. 

You  know  the  extent  and  nature  of  my  favourable  feeling 
towards  what  are  called  Evangelicals.  It  is  just  a  part  of  my 
feeling  of  a  living  bond  with  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus. 
I  trust,  in  your  measure,  you  may  feel  v/hat  I  feel  myself, 
while,  as  a  young  person  who  may  well  expect  to  be  per- 
mitted to  be  silent  on  points  of  theology,  your  path  may  be 
more  easy  in  intercourse  than  mine  who  am  supposed  to  be 
prepared  to  say  what  I  think  on  this  and  on  that. 

I  pray  that  you  may  "  hear  before  you  speak."  I  know 
by  experience  that  z/we  are  willing  to  hear,  God  will  not  be 
silent  to  us.  The  difficulty  is  to  be  willing  to  hear  God,  for 
that  implies  that  suspension  of  our  OAvn  will  until  we  know 
God's  will  which  comes  through  making  His  favour  our  first 
thought. 

You  remember  the  life  of  Ellis,  how  at  the  close  the  con- 
sciousness of  being  able  to  say  to  God  "  Thy  will  be  done," 
in  the  peace  and  acquiescence  of  a  perfect  welcome  of  God's 
will,  was  the  attainment  reached  through  prolonged  and  in- 


112  MEMORIALS.  ceap.  XI. 

tense  sufferings,  and  was  felt  to  be  an  attainment  which 
more  than  compensated  all  the  suffering. 

It  is  the  distance  that  seems  ever  to  remain  between  our 
welcome  of  God's  will  and  the  worthiness  of  that  will  to  be 
welcomed,  that  seems  to  all  who  are  seeking  to  reach  a  true 
and  perfect  response,  the  explanation  and  justification  of  the 
most  prolonged  trials  of  faith — as  in  such  cases  as  M.  G.'s. 
.  .  .  I  have  very  pleasant  memories  of  Brighton,  and  so 
far  as  atmospheric  influences  prove  to  one  that  one  is  a  part 
of  this  great  whole,  I  never  felt  any  atmosphere  contribute 
so  much  to  my  sense  of  pleasant  existence  as  Brighton.  I 
am  glad  that  you  are  to  be  there  together. 

Our  Lord  said,  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are 
my  disciples  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."  I  am  not  lay- 
ing hold  of  too  high  an  association  in  referring  to  His  words 
now.  For  I  desire  for  you  more,  in  your  relation  to  each 
other,  than  mere  iiatural  affection  can  secure. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  28th  December,  1865. 

I  went,  I  think  you  know,  to  Edinburgh  in  consequence 
of  an  invitation  from  Mrs.  Stirling,  who  thought  her  brother 
would  be  the  better  of  a  visit  from  me  ;  and,  in  a  letter  to- 
day, he  says  he  has  been ;  although  feeHng  (as  I  too  feel 
partly)  that  we  had  not  made  the  most  of  our  time — so  much 
was  left  unsaid.  We  always  breakfasted  alone,  and  sat  to- 
gether for  a  while  after  breakfast,  till  we  went  upstairs  to 
have  the  reading  of  the  Psalms  and  lessons  of  the  day  with 
Mrs.  Stirling.  We  had  had  worship  with  the  household  be- 
fore breakfast,  Mr.  Erskine  always  praying.  (I  prayed  only 
on  Sunday  evening,  when  I  also  expounded  at  considerable 
length.)  We  were  again  alone  together  at  night  for  a  short 
time.    Each  day  guests  to  dinner.    Our  parties  were  not  large 


1864-66.  VISIT  TO  EDINBURGH.  113 

and  were  easy  and  pleasant  .  .  .  We  had  Dr.  Lee  one 
day,  who  sympathizes  with  Norman  M'Leod  ;  that  is,  thinks 
N.  right,  though  having  objections  to  the  way  in  which  he 
has  done  what  he  has  done.  .  .  .  Mr.  Constable, 
formerly  a  publisher,  and  his  son,  dined  with  us  another  day, 
— both  cultivated  men.  And  another  day  Dr.  Brown,  the 
author  of  "  Rab  and  his  friends,"  to  whom  I  took  a  good 
deal.     ...     I  went  to  the  Convent  to  see  my  old  friend 

Mrs. ,  now  eighty-five ;  happy-  to  see  me, — still  hoping 

that  I  shall  yet  join  the  true  church.  I  think  my  recent  read- 
ing of  Eirenicon  had  made  me  more  brotherly  to  her ;  while 
it  certainly  anything  but  made  her  hope  more  likely  to  be 
realized.  Dr.  Pusey's  day-dream  of  an  union  (outward 
and  visible  acknowledgment  of  each  other)  of  the  Greek, 
Latin,  and  Anglican  Churches,  I  felt  almost  touching  in 
its  simple  earnestness ;  while  to  me  what  was  present  to 
his  mind  as  the  common  ground  on  which  each  might 
meet  the  others,  was  my  strong  fundamental  objection 
to  them  all — their  common  point  of  departure  from  the 
primitive  faith ; — I  mean  their  faith  as  to  Baptism  and  the 
Eucharist. 

Besides  Dr.  Pusey's  book  I  have  been  reading  an  unpub- 
lished volume  ^  that  gives  the  fullest  view  of  the  faith  of  the 
church  which  is  known  as  the  development  of  Mr.  Irving's 
teaching ;  and  which  also,  substantially,  agrees  with  the  three 
great  sections  of  the  church  (taking  Dr.  Pusey's  representa- 
tion of  the  Anglican)  as  to  these  two  fundamental  subjects. 
What  a  contrast  all  this  thought  and  hoping  and  forecasting 
was  to  the  thoughts  and  hopes  which  occupy  Mr.  Erskine, 
and  on  which  all  our  intercourse  when  alone  has  turned  ! 

My  visit  was  to  him,  and  its  deepest  interest  was  that 
which  he  gave  it.  We  still  do  not  see  eye  to  eye  in  some 
things  of  deep  moment ;  as  to  which  my  comfort  was  limited 
to  the  consciousness  that  I  had  been  enabled  simply  to  pre- 

^  The  Purpose  of  God  in  Creation  and  Redet7iption, 
VOL.  II.  H 


114  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

sent  my  objections  for  his  consideration.  But  in  the  great 
thing — the  Hving  faith  that  God  is  love — I  have  had,  as 
usual,  most  quickening  sympathy  with  my  friend;  and  I 
have  also  felt  that  our  intercourse,  even  when  regarding 
what  we  see  differently,  was  such  as  necessitated  on 
my  part, — as,  I  trust,  on  his  also, — an  inward  uplooking 
in  prayer,  which  raised  one  into  the  Invisible  and  Eter- 
nal, and  strengthened,  by  exercising  it,  direct  faith  in  the 
living  God, 

On  my  way  home  on  Saturday  I  stopped  for  two  hours 
and  a  half  at  Linlithgow  to  see  Donald  M'Leod,  He  met 
me  at  the  station,  and  on  our  way  to  the  manse  took  me  to 
the  old  Palace,  &c 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  29th  December,  1865, 

Dr.  Gibson's  pamphlet  I  had  from  Norman  to  read.  It 
is  the  fullest  pleading  on  that  side — the  aspect  of  the  ques- 
tion as  seen  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  holds  that 
theology  culminated  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith, 
his  faith  in  which  is  absolute  and  I  may  say  unlimited,  for  he 
indicates  no  limit.  But  it  is  not  to  his  own  apprehension  a 
faith  in  fallible  men,  although  he  would  admit  that  the  men 
who  drew  it  up  were  fallible,  but  a  faith  in  the  Scriptures, 
because  they  have  fortified  every  dogma,  to  his  satisfaction, 
with  very  full  Scripture  proofs.  It  does  not  seem  present  to 
his  mind  that  to  call  them  "  proofs  "  is  to  beg  the  question,  in 
arguing  with  those  who  admit  the  authority  of  the  written 
word  as  fully  as  he  does,  though  they  differ  \vith  the  West- 
minster divines  in  their  understanding  of  that  word.  No- 
thing I  ever  read  is  a  more  solemn  warning  of  the  danger  of 
passing  from  the  assertion  of  the  infallibility  of  Scripture  to 
the  assumption  of  the  truth  of  our  own  gathering  of  the 
meaning  of  Scripture. 


1864-66.  THE  SABBATH  QUESTION.  115 

Dr.  Gibson  will  enable  A.  to  understand  the  mind  of  the 
most  serious,  i.e.,  strict  portion  of  the  religious  people  of  Scot- 
land ;  though  their  different  feeling  to  Norman  himself  saves 
serious  people  of  the  Established  Church  from  the  bitterness 
of  Free  Church  antagonists. 

While  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  he  is  right  as  to  the  pass- 
ing away  of  the  Sabbath  known  by  that  name  in  Scripture, 
and  the  coming  in  of  the  Lord's  Day  as  the  day  to  be  marked 
as  a  religious  day  in  the  Christian  Church,  I  would  not 
have  felt  any  call  to  disturb  men's  minds  on  the  subject,  but 
have  felt  it  enough  to  raise  the  spiritual  tone  of  their  observ- 
ance of  Sunday,  and  [to  free  it  from  superstitious  gloom. 
And  this  is  what  really  he  would  have  desired.  But  now 
things  will  not  settle  down  to  what  is  desirable  without  his 
wading  through  a  sea  of  troubles.  Even  the  Duke's  tem- 
perate and  discreet  speech  they  are  beginning  to  cavil  at. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  nth  January,  1866. 

.  .  .  The  thought  of  you  all  three  together  in  Brigh- 
ton sunshine — in  the  sunshine  of  kindness ;  also  our  dear 
John  among  you  by  his  many  letters, — to  have  his  let- 
ters reflected  back  with  Brighton  tints  by  this  outgoing 
mail !  How  full  of  the  divine  goodness  is  that  consti- 
tution of  things  by  which  we  are  members  one  of  another ! 
— as  has  been  well  said,  "  doubling  our  joys,  and  halving 
our  sorrows  ;"  for  the  sympathy  which  doubles  joy,  divides 
sorrow. 

.  .  .  I  send  you  by  this  post  yesterday's  Herald,  with 
our  Duke's  speech,  and  supplemental  speech  drawn  from 
him  by  that  of  Dr.  Cairns,  I  went  to  the  meeting  despite 
the  forbidding  character  of  the  weather.  When  we  went  to 
the  platform  I  found  myself  among  several  hundreds — chiefly 
ministers  of  all  denominations — a  great  distance  from  the 


ii6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xr. 

presidential  chair.  I  cannot  pass  on  without  saying  what  a 
beautiful  sight  the  hall,  as  seen  from  where  I  sat,  presented, 
filled  brim-full  with  people  so  far  interested  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  to  come  in  the  middle  of  a  business  day  (and 
the  large  proportion  was  men)  to  attend  a  Bible  Society 
meeting.  The  proceedings  commenced  with  the  read- 
ing of  the  looth  Psalm, 

"  All  people  that  on  earth  do  dwell, 
Sing  to  the  Lord  with  cheerful  voice ;" 

and  what  a  Gospel  I  felt  the  call,  heard  as  spoken  by  in- 
spiration of  the  Holy  Spirit !  God  Himself  thus  testifying 
that  in  Him  all  have  just  cause  for  rejoicing ;  all,  however 
their  sins  may  seem  to  forbid  the  thought;  all,  however 
their  circumstances,  under  the  ordering  of  His  providence, — 
with  all  suffering  and  all  darkness,  not  of  themselves, — may 
seem  to  contradict  it.  Dr.  Guthrie  gave  out  the  psalm, 
read  a  chapter  and  prayed — a  good  catholic  prayer.  For 
the  rest  I  refer  you  to  the  Herald.  Towards  the  close  the 
platform  thinned  a  little,  and  I  got  down  near  the  Duke,  and 
when  it  was  over  had  a  very  cordial  greeting  from  him. 
The  Duchess  was  in  the  gallery,  and  I  waited  w^th  him  till 
she  got  to  him;  and  so  had  her  greeting  also.  Like  my 
Edinburgh  friends,  they  both  thought  me  looking  well. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  January  12th,  1866. 

If  you  read  my  letter  to  Donald  you  may  have  thought 
that  I  concluded  more  than  I  really  did,  from  the  interest 
in  the  Bible  manifested  by  attendance  at  the  meeting  on 
Tuesday.  No  doubt  the  Duke's  expected  speech  was  one 
attraction. 

But  even  in  so  far  as  interest  in  the  object  of  the  Society 


1864-66.         DANGERS  OF  CONTROVERSY.  117 

was  a  token  for  good  (I  know  well  how  much  ignorance  of 
the  true  value  of  the  Bible  was  coexistent  with  such  interest) 
my  real  comfort  was  the  thought  that  the  Psalm  sung  was  a 
divine  declaration  of  the  place  which  all  have  in  the 
thoughts  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  whether  they  know  it  or 
not,  or  whatever  preparation  of  faith  in  the  love  of  God 
they  had  for  singing  that  Psalm.     .     .     . 

I  now  return  the  extract  from  Dr.  Vaughan.  If 
men  will  only  substitute  New  Testament  authority  for  a 
Lord's  Day  for  Old  Testament  authority  for  a  Sabbath,  I  do 
not  think  there  is  more  risk  of  an  abuse  of  the  day  in  one 
view  of  it  than  in  the  other.  But  you  know  that,  though  I 
see  apostolic  authority  for  the  change,  I  have  had  no  wish 
to  direct  attention  to  it.  As  a  minister  of  Christ  I  can  never 
take  lower  ground  in  commending  any  form  of  the  will  of 
God  than  that  we  are  "  bought  with  a  price — therefore  are 
called  to  glorify  God  with  our  body  and  spirit  which  are 
His."  I  cannot  now  enlarge  on  this.  The  prophet  ex- 
pected men  under  the  Old  Testament  to  esteem  the  Sabbath 
a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honourable  (Isaiah  Iviii.  13); 
and  those  who  really  were  alive  to  God  would  do  so.  Others 
would  not,  but  the  obligation  lay  on  all.  So  now  also  it  will 
be  as  to  the  Lord's  Day. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  25th  January,  1866, 

.  .  .  [Speaking  of  Dr.  M'Leod  and  the  Sabbath  ques- 
tion:] I  feel  for  him  much  as  to  one  aspect  of  his  trial  that 
most  naturally  presents  itself  to  me.  I  mean  that  he  has  not 
that  help  towards  abiding  in  a  right  state  of  mind  towards 
those  who  oppose  themselves  to  him,  that  I  had  when  teach- 
ing that  Christ  died  for  all ;  for,  in  my  case,  the  very  love, 
to  the  faith  of  which  I  called  every  man,  gave  its  tone  to  my 


ii8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

mind  and  dealing  with  men's  objections.  To  plead  for 
love  in  any  other  spirit  than  love  would  be  so  monstrous  an 
incongruity.  Not  that  the  thing  is  impossible.  It  may  easily 
be  if  the  dogma  and  the  argument,  and  one's  amour  propre 
in  arguing  triumphantly,  be  taking  the  place  of  the  realization 
of  the  great  fact  itself  argued  for.  But  the  love  of  God  is 
that  in  the  truth  which  least  runs  the  risk  of  sinking  into  a 
dogma.  ...  I  think  I  in  a  former  letter  told  you  how 
much  I  felt  the  clear  apprehension  of  the  love  of  God,  as 
God's  revelation  of  Himself  to  every  man  in  the  Atonement, 
— how  much  I  felt  this  faith,  to  which  I  was  so  soon  brought 
after  I  became  a  minister,  to  have  been  what  saved  me  from 
such  an  alienation  from  Evangelical  religion  as  Robertson 
came  to.  But  it  was  my  salvation  (and  also  my  beloved 
Mr.  Scott's  salvation)  from  much  that  was  far  more  serious 
than  one's  estimate  of  any  sect  of  religionists  ;  though 
to  abide  in  charity  to  any  other  is  no  small  grace.  But 
this  faith — which  is  as  deep  in  me  as  the  faith  that  God 
is — has  been  as  an  anchor  to  my  soul  in  many  a  solemn 
season,  when  no  little  tempest  has  been  upon  me,  and 
I  might  say,  nor  moon  nor  stars  had  for  many  nights 
appeared.  I  cannot  now  speak  of  all  the  ways  in  which 
I  have  been  made  to  prove  the  holding  power  of  this 
sheet  anchor,  when  other  stays  have  failed;  or,  at  least, 
if  they  have  not  failed  as  to  their  own  truth,  have  failed 
as  to  my  perception  and  realization  of  that  truth.  But 
this  one  element  in  my  experience  I  may  notice  now  for 
your  help ;  viz.,  that  it  enabled  me  to  exercise  patience,  and 
made  me  quick  to  hear  and  slow  to  speak.  Secure  in  this 
fundamental  faith  I  could  afford  to  wait  for  light  in  second- 
ary matters,  however  important  these  came  to  look  through 
dwelling  on  them.  Also,  this  grand  root  faith  gave  me 
what  to  teach  and  what  to  cherish,  and  that  fellowship  in 
the  long  suffering  of  God,  and  His  painstaking  with  men, 
that  has  so  often  saved  me  from  breaking — or  risking  a 


1864-66.  "  ECCE  HOMO."  119 

breaking — with  others,  because  of  anything  that  was  a  differ- 
ence in  our  measures  of  Hght — as  to  which,  assuming  the 
greater  measure  of  hght  to  be  mine,  and  the  darkness  that 
remained  theirs,  this  difference  only  made  the  obhgation  all 
the  greater  on  me  to  bear  with  them  in  love.  Thus,  while 
called  a  "  heretic,"  I  have  been  saved  from  the  reality  of 
heresy,  and  have  been  enabled  to  *'  keep  the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

Laurel  Bank,  31st  January,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  was  for  ten  days  with  dear  Mr.  Erskine,  for 
which  I  was  very  thankful.  You  did  not  know  our  valued 
friend  Scott,  of  whom  Mr.  Erskine  says  that  he  impressed 
him  more  than  any  other  man  had,  and  of  whom  I  can  say 
the  same.  How  mysteriously  God  seemed  to  be  at  the 
same  time  increasing  his  light  and  withholding  from  placing 
it  on  a  candlestick.  But  our  Lord  said,  "  Your  time  is  always 
ready;  my  time  is  not  yet  come."  We  rightly  pray  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  labourers  into  his  har- 
vest. But  it  remains  with  Him  to  answer  according  to 
His  light. 

Have  you  read  this  new  book,  ^' Ecce  Homo"  which  is 
attracting  a  good  deal  of  attention  ?  Those  who  gave  some 
measure  of  welcome  to  Renan,  as  in  relation  to  Strauss  a 
move  in  the  right  direction,  will  see  in  this  book  a  still 
greater  move  in  the  same  direction ;  but  still  far  short  of 
"  seeing  Jesus."  Whether  it  reveals  all  that  the  writer  is 
seeing,  or  rather  only  what  he  may  expect  those  for  whom 
he  may  be,  in  his  own  thoughts,  writing,  to  bear,  I  feel  un- 
certain. Some  parts  seem  to  me  to  imply  more  faith  than 
other  parts  avow. 


I20  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xt. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  February  I2th,  1866. 

I  send  by  this  post  a  copy  of  the  Scotsman,  in  which  there 
is  a  letter  by  myself  on  Dr.  Candlish's  Lecture  on  the 
Sabbath. 

Answers  suggested  themselves  while  reading  it  which 
it  seemed  desirable  that  people  should  have  before  them; 
and  not  seeing  that  anybody  was  offering  them,  I  wrote 
what  you  read.  'I  have  two  hopes  from  what  I  have  done. 
One  is  to  give  a  more  serious  direction  to  the  thoughts  of 
those  who  are  taking  Norman's  side ;  and  the  other,  to  help 
serious  people  to  believe  that  his  taking  that  side  is  not 
inconsistent  with  valuing  the  Sabbath  as  a  Christian  religious 
day. 

February  13th. 

I  hesitated  much  as  to  writing,  and  waited  to  see  if  any 
notice  would  be  taken  by  some  one  else  of  what  I  felt  when 
reading  them  to  be  fallacies,  yet  very  plausible  :  and  I 
believe  having  weight  to  Dr.  Candlish's  own  mind.  Only 
"  a  bribe  blinds  the  eye  of  the  judge ; "  and  the  desire  to 
come  to  a  certain  conclusion  was  likely  to  prove  such  a 
bribe. 

I  do  not  think  I  can  have  done  any  harm  by  writing,  and 
I  may  have  done  some  good.  I  wished  it  to  be  felt,  for  I 
believe  it  to  be  the  case,  that  men  may  value  the  Sabbath 
character  of  the  Lord's  day,  although  its  rest  has  not  that 
sacred  character  as  rest  which  it  manifestly  had,  and  was 
intended  to  have,  to  the  children  of  Israel. 

I  know  that  this  state  of  mind  may  exist,  seeing  that  it  is 
my  own ;  but  I  believe  it  is  that  of  many ;  and  Dr.  Vaughan's 
beautiful  developing  of  the  rest  which  is  higher  activity  of 
spirit  (in  that  extract),  satisfies  me  how  truly  Christian — as 


1864-66.  THE  GIFT  OF  TONGUES.  121 

other  and  higher  than  Jewish,  even  when  that  was  highest — 
is  his  value  for  the  day. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

loth  P'ebruary. 

.  .  .  I  have  long  ago  concluded  that  the  gift  of 
tongues  was  not  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  those 
whose  tongues  were  spoken :  although  the  use  of  the  gift,  or 
rather  first  manifestation  of  it,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  was 
a  verifying  of  it  by  the  "  hearing  in  their  own  tongues  the 
praises  of  God  "  by  the  strangers  from  so  many  lands  then  at 
Jerusalem.  Had  we  nothing  to  decide  the  question  but  the 
record  of  the  day  of  Pentecost,  I  think  we  would  conclude 
that  it  was  the  miraculous  endowment  of  men  with  languages 
to  be  used  as  we  use  the  acquisition  of  foreign  languages, 
and  valuable  in  the  same  way ;  but  the  use  of  the  gift  in  the 
church  of  Corinth  sheds  a  clear  light  on  the  subject,  in 
which  we  see  that  "  tongues"  were  not  a  conscious  possession 
of  a  language  to  be  used  at  one's  will,  but  a  form  of  utter- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  men — as  prophesying  was — having 
its  value  in  its  fitness  to  edify  and  develop  spiritual  life  in  the 
subjects  of  the  divine  influence,  in  a  way  which  without  ex- 
perience of  the  gift  we  can  only  dimly  conjecture  ;  but  dis- 
tinguished from  endowment  with  a  new  language  by  its 
occasional  manifestation,  by  its  dependence  on  the  additional 
gift  of  interpretation  for  being  brought  into  the  region  of 
intelligence,  and  by  its  use  in  churches  where  all  had  a  com- 
mon language,  the  Greek  of  the  place. 

I  think  I  have  told  you  that  one  of  the  reasons  why 
what  was  regarded  by  the  possessors  of  it  as  the  gift  of 
tongues  at  Port-Glasgow,  was  commended  to  some  as 
a  reality  (and  it  was  a  strong  presumption  in  its  favour) 
•was  its  being  at  once  quite  different  from  what  was  ex- 
pected, in   not  being  the  possession  of  a  new  language, 


122  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xl 

and  yet  being  in  respect  of  this  very  difference  more  in 
accordance  with  what  was  read  of  as  in  the  church  at 
Corinth.  I  remember  being  struck  to  find  Stanley  on  this 
subject  writing  in  light,  while  Robertson  of  Brighton  had 
floundered  in  manifest  inability  to  see.  But  when  I  men- 
tioned this  to  Mr.  Erskine,  I  found  that  Stanley  had  from 
him  in  conversation  the  benefit  of  our  observation  at 
Port-Glasgow,  and  of  the  light  which  seemed  shed  on  the 
Apostle's  language  by  what  we  witnessed  there. 

As  to  what  the  gift  of  tongues  was  in  the  church  at 
Corinth,  there  seems  no  room  for  uncertainty ;  whether  we 
can  conclude  positively  from  this  as  to  what  it  was  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost  or  not.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  record 
to  hinder  our  so  concluding.  No  gift  enjoyed  by  the  early 
church  more  raises  us  into  the  region  of  the  supernatural 
than  the  gift  of  tongues.  But  beyond  what  it  might  be  to 
the  speakers,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  and  in  mysterious  spiritual  sympathy,  the 
quickening  of  the  sense  of  the  supernatural  would  seem  its 
sole  use  to  the  church. 

I  go  back  with  you  to  the  difficult  subject  of  faith,  and 
the  discrimination  of  its  intellectual  and  spiritual  ele- 
ments, and  the  limits  of  its  moral  character,  and  of  the 
responsibilities  implied  in  being  capable  of  faith.  I  think 
I  understand  you,  and,  if  I  do,  I  enter  very  much  into 
your  distinctions.  It  would  be  only  misleading  to  confound 
things  so  distinct  as  evidence  of  a  fact,  and  that  spiritual 
element  in  a  fact  (in  it  because  of  what  it  reveals  of 
God,  if  a  fact,  and  ascribes  to  God,  whether  a  fact  or  not) 
which  makes  our  acceptance  or  rejection  a  test  of  our 
moral  and  spiritual  state.  Thus  as  to  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  from  the  dead,  the  fact  is  the  subject  of  abundant 
testimony, — testimony  which  we  may  weigh  as  we  would 
testimony  in  any  other  matter.  But,  apart  from  the  question 
of  testimony,  there  is  the   peculiar  character  of  the  fact. 


1864-66.  THE  RESURRECTION.  125 

"  Why,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  should  it  seem  impossible  with 
you  that  God  should  raise  the  dead?"^  It  is  not,  "What 
defect  or  flaw  is  there  in  the  evidence  ?  "  but,  "  Why  should 
it  seem  impossible  ?  "  for,  if  impossible,  there  is  no  room  for 
a  question  of  evidence.  No  evidence  can  prove  an  impossi- 
bility, or  command  our  attention  while  offered  to  prove  what 
we  regard  as  an  impossibility.  It  is  manifest  as  to  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  that  the  fact  reported  to  us  takes  us  into- 
the  high  region  of  the  relation  of  our  existence  to  God  j  and 
tests  our  faith  in  God  as  God.  When  the  Apostle  Peter 
says  that  "  God  raised  Christ  from  the  dead,  and  gave  Him 
glory,  that  our  faith  and  hope  might  be  in  God,"  he  indeed 
contemplates  God's  raising  Christ  from  the  dead  as  what;, 
being  reported  to  us,  not  only  tests  faith  but  develops  faith, 
and  raises  it  to  a  higher  power.  We  must  believe  in  God  to 
be  able  to  believe  this ;  but,  believing  this,  we  are  raised  into 
a  higher  light  of  divine  truth,  and  made  to  know  more  of 
God,  and  to  know  what,  being  known,  has  power  to  cause 
"  our  faith  and  hope  to  be  in  God."  For  manifestly  nothing 
can  more  break  our  bonds  in  walking  by  sight,  and  having 
our  habitual  faith  and  hope  in  the  creature,  than  God's  raising 
Christ  from  the  dead  (the  fact  being  accepted  by  us),  raising 
Him  from  the  dead,  and  giving  Him  glory. 

Let  us  only  realize  this  fact,  and  meditate  on  it,  connect- 
ing it  with  what  He  was  manifested  to  be  whom  God  thus 
dealt  with,  and  a  light  is  shed  upon  all  the  highest  problems. 
of  our  existence,  which  becomes  more  and  more  clear  and 
satisfying  the  more  we  allow  ourselves  to  dwell  in  it,  and 
look  around  us  on  all  things  as  it  shows  them  to  us. 

What  is  thus  true  of  this  great  fact  is  true  of  all  the  facts, 
and  of  the  history  as  a  whole ;  in  which  we  are  asked  to 
believe  in  respect  of  its  relation  to  God,  and  of  what  it 
requires    us  to  believe  concerning  God.      In   that  divine 

1  The  exact  words  are,  "  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible 
with  you,  that  God  should  raise  the  dead  ? "  (Acts  xxvi,  8). 


124  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

aspect  of  the  facts  is  their  fitness  to  test  our  spiritual  state, 
whether  we  will  welcome  as  true  God's  revelation  of  Him- 
self; which  is,  in  other  words,  whether  we  welcome  God. 
"  I  have  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye  receive  me  not." 
This  was  their  condemnation. 


To  Miss  Ker  : 

After  the  death  of  her  brother-in-law,  Mr.  A.  f.  Scott,  which  took  place  at 
Veytaux,  in  Switzerland, 

Laurel  Bank,  13th  February,  1866. 

My  dear  Grace, — I  have  felt  much  your  kindness  in 
writing  to  me  so  fully ;  and  I  trust  it  was  also  soothing  to 
yourself  to  say  so  much  of  the  beloved  one  taken  away,  to 
one  who  knew  what  you  possessed  in  him,  and  who  can 
feel  the  greatness  of  the  blank  to  you  now;  however  much 
memory  and  hope,  sustained  by  faith,  may  still  occupy  the 
space  which  his  presence  filled.  I  speak  of  myself  as  "  one 
who  knew ;"  but  I  know  well  that  I  knew  only  in  part :  for 
how  can  another  know  how  large  a  portion  of  your  life  was 
included  in  your  many-sided  relation  to  him — your  teacher 
and  guide,  your  friend  and  brother, — sharing  so  much  of  his 
thinking  with  you,  and  of  his  feeUng ;  caring  for  you  also  as 
a  father  since  you  became  one  of  his  family ;  and,  besides  all 
this  receiving  from  him,  the  giving  his  love  back  by  you  in 
loving  nursing,  in  all  his  varied  need  of  nursing,  through  so 
many  years  of  broken  health ; — all  this  must  cause  the  blank 
now  felt  to  be  unspeakable.  But  is  it  not  all — yes  all — a 
true  occupying  of  that  blank  with  precious  memories,  which 
will,  so  to  speak,  inherit  the  place  next  your  heart  which 
all  that  they  record  had  held  while  elements  of  life  as  it 
passed  ? 

I  thank  you  very  much  for  writing  to  me  so  fully ;  and, 
through  the  kindness  of  your  sister,  Mrs.  M'Call,  I  have  ad- 
ditional comforts ;   as  in  the  expression  of  feeling  in  your 


1864-66.  DEATH  OF  A.  J.  SCOTT.  125 

landlady,  &c.,  and  also  helps  to  my  sympathy  with  Mrs. 
Lucas,  who  is  to  my  mind  one  with  you  and  Ann  and  him- 
self in  many  pictures  of  the  past  which  are  living  in  my  mind; 
especially  memories  of  Plumstead  Common,  where  my  visits 
to  him  were  longer  and  with  more  communion  than  either  at 
London  or  Manchester. 

When  I  think  of  you  all,  and  especially  of  her  who  was- 
nearer  to  him  than  any  other,  I  am  most  thankful  for  the 
help  to  faith  in  God  which  his  manifested  faith  must  be  to 
you :  for  this  faith  is  your  ultimate  resource.  Truly,  he  is 
one  of  the  cloud  of  witnesses, — witnesses  to  God's  faithful- 
ness :  while  you  may  hear  him  still,  as  I  heard  him  once  in 
preaching,  directing  you  to  the  07ie  perfect  witness,  Jesus  "the 
author  and  finisher  of  faith."  One  of  his  early  sermons  at 
Greenock  was  from  the  words,  "  I  have  given  him  a  witness 
to  the  people  :"  a  witness  witnessing  for  God  in  contradiction 
to  all  men's  distrust  and  suspicions  and  hard  thoughts  of 
God. 

I  may  say  to  you  that,  when  I  got  dear  Mrs.  Scott's  letter, 
sent  through  Mr.  Erskine  (who  accompanied  it  by  a  few  most 
comforting  words  of  love),  the  thought  of  my  departed  friend 
that  came  before  me,  and  filled  me  with  solemn  peace,  was 
"  Christ  in  you  the  hope  of  glory."  This  aspect  of  what  I 
knew  him  took  entire  and  exclusive  possession  of  me  for  a 
time  ;  and  was  to  me  what  the  words  "  I  am  the  resurrection 
and  the  life  "  were  to  her  at  the  grave. 

My  Mary's  preparation  for  deep  sympathy  with  me  through 
her  own  feeling  to  him,  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  me.  She 
sends  you  her  love  and  deepest  sympathy.  Our  thoughts 
are  often  with  you.  We  are  thankful  for  all  the  kindness  put 
into  hearts  there  for  you ;  kindness  doubly  precious  to  you  as 
a  testimony  to  him.  We  are  thankful  also  for  the  quiet  dear 
Mrs.  Scott  is  having,  and  the  soothing  beauty  of  those 
beautiful  scenes,  on  which  he  so  lately  looked  with  you. 
"All  things  are  of  God  : "  these,  as  well  as  the  highest  con- 


126  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xi. 

solations  that  belong  to  spiritual  vision,  and  the  apprehension 
of  His  own  love, — His  revelation  of  Himself  in  Christ, — 
His  enabling  you  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  behold  His  glory  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Give  our  love  to  dear  Susan,  and  to  John  when  you  write 
to  him.  Though  he  does  not  so  know  us  as  to  understand 
it  as  his  own,  let  him  receive  it  for  his  father's  sake. — Your 
very  affectionate  friend, 

John  M*L.  Campbell. 


127 


CHAPTER    XII. 
1866— 1867. 

Incidents  of  these  years — Letters  to  India — Letters  on  Theological  Sub- 
jects— Ecce  Homo — Nature  and  Prayer — Last  visit  to  London — 
Letters  to  Bishop  Ewing — Huxley's  Lay  Sermons — Rationalism  and 
Superstition — Readings  in  Philosophy — Banquet  given  to  Dr. 
Macleod. 

In  May,  1866,  Mr.  Campbell  went  to  London  for  the  last 
time.  On  his  way  south  he  visited  Dr.  Vaughan  at  Don- 
caster,  and  Mr.  D.  J.  Vaughan  at  Leicester.  He  remained 
more  than  two  months  in  England,  and  enjoyed  the  inter- 
course which  he  had  with  many  friends,  who  were  interested 
in  the  same  great  subjects  which  occupied  his  own  mind. 
One  day  at  Fulham  Palace  he  met  Mr.  Maurice,  the  Bishop 
of  Argyll,  the  Bishop  of  Bangor,  Mr.  R.  H.  Hutton,  Mr. 
W.  H.  Fremantle,  and  others. 

During  these  years  the  Bishop  of  Argyll  was  one  of  his 
most  frequent  correspondents;  and  in  October,  1866,  Mr. 
Campbell  accomplished  a  visit  to  Bishopston,  which  he 
greatly  enjoyed.  They  had  first  met  at  the  house  of  Sir 
John  Maxwell  some  years  before ;  and  as  their  intercourse 
became  more  intimate,  a  very  cordial  friendship  sprang  up 
between  them.  Mr.  Campbell  always  spoke  of  the  Bishop 
with  much  affection  and  regard. 

In  1867  a  review  of  the  book  on  the  Atonement,  which 


128  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

appeared  in  the  June  number  of  the  North  British  Review^ 
gave  Mr.  Campbell  great  satisfaction,  as  showing  a  more 
intelligent  appreciation  of  the  argument  of  the  book  than 
any  of  the  earlier  reviews  had  done.  In  the  same  year  a 
second  edition  was  published,  containing  new  matter  in  the 
form  of  an  introduction  and  notes. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

2nd  March,  1866. 
.  .  .  The  path  of  duty  as  2l  public  servant  wiW  probably 
be  very  distinctly  marked  out  by  the  regulations  and  tradi- 
tions of  your  office.  Therefore,  as  to  this,  your  need  will  be, 
that  abiding  feeling  of  your  relation  to  God  in  Christ  which, 
whatever  you  are  called  to  do,  will  enable  you  to  do  it 
heartily  as  unto  the  Lord.  There  are  other  matters  where 
the  outward  form  that  duty  may  take  will  be  less  defined. 
But  there  is  an  instinctive  sense  of  what  is  the  right  step 
that  belongs  to  the  pure  desire  to  take  it.  "  If  thine  eye  be 
single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light."  I  would  not 
push  this  too  far,  as  if  it  implied  the  promise  of  an  infallible 
judgment.  I  believe  it  will  give  us  the  full  use  of  what 
judgment  we  are  endowed  with,  and,  more  than  this,  will 
help  us  to  the  right  principle  of  judging.  But  errors  in 
judgment  may  sometimes  be  a  part  of  our  discipline ;  the 
permission  of  them  teaching  important  lessons  of  depend- 
ence on  His  ordering  of  what  concerns  us  with  whom  is  no 
darkness  at  all.  I  understand  the  fulness  of  light  promised 
to  the  single  eye  to  be  what  belongs  to  our  being  "  children 
of  the  light  and  of  the  day :"  light  in  which  we  are  able  to 
keep  a  conscience  void  of  offence  towards  God  and  towards 
man,  living  the  life  that  lies  in  God's  favour,  and  owing  no 
man  anything — ^loving  one  another. 


1866-67.  STUDY  OF  SHAKESPEARE.  129 

9th  March,  1866. 

By  the  bye,  are  you  making  acquaintance  with  Shake- 
speare?    I  remember  long  ago  at  Paris,  at  the  house  of 
Lord  Elgin,  when  one  of  the  children,  a  little  girl,  seemed  to 
speak  French  more  easily  than  English,  Mr.  Erskine  said  to 
me,  "  I  feel  it  a  loss  to  any  one,  to  whom  the  language  of 
Shakespeare  might  have  been  their  mother-tongue,  that  it 
should  not  be  so."     That  the  language  of  Shakespeare  is 
one's  mother-tongue,  and  so  the  most  perfect  key  to  Shake- 
speare, and  such  a  key  as  no  acquisition  of  English  as  an 
acquired  language  can  be,  is  no  gain  if  this  key  be  not  used 
to  unlock  the  treasures  of  Shakespeare.     Study  Shakespeare 
both  for  insight  into  humanity  and  for  culture  of  your  poetic 
nature.     Do   keep  up,  also,   some  acquaintance  with   the 
great  of  old ;  and  turn  your  Greek  and  Latin  to  some  account. 
Do  not  let  the  acquisitions  in  any  department  by  which  you 
were  enabled  to  pass  the  competitive  examination  be  to  you 
as  mere  scaling  ladders ;  though  doubtless  standing  on  your 
present  elevation  you  will  feel  that  even  as  such  they  have 
paid  you  well.     You  may  probably  have  but  little  time  to 
spare,  but  even  a  little  occasional  occupation  with  classics, 
from  love  to  them  and  for  enjoyment  of  their  beauties,  will 
go  far  in  developing  those  elements  of  your  being  which 
give  the  capacity  of  enjoying  them,  and  of  a  certain  fellow- 
ship with  the  minds  which  have  left  these  utterances  of  their 
thoughts  and  feelings.      The  reading  which  is  cramming, 
however  necessary,  has  an  undoubted  tendency  to  dull  the 
fine  edge  of  the  mind,  and  to  lower  its  tone ;  making  a 
higher  thing  subordinate  to  a  lower  thing,  and  what  has  a 
mental  value  to  be  prized  as  means  to  what  has  but  a 
material  value. 

We  are  in  many  regions  exposed  to  this  inverting  of  the 
order :  as  when  we  cultivate  acquaintances,  not  from  the 
pure  social  interest  of  life,  but  that  they  may  be  useful  to  us, 
VOL.  ir.  I 


I30  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

and  help -our  advancement :  not  a  motive  to  be  rejected  from 
our  thoughts,  but  one  the  undue  power  of  which  would  poison 
life.  So,  in  the  highest  region,  religion  as  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  His  will,  and  as  the  ordering  of  our  lives  with 
relation  to  this  knowledge,  may  be  emptied  of  all  divine  life 
by  the  habit  of  valuing  it  as  a  means  to  the  end  of  safety  or 
happiness.  That  in  being  truly  religious  we  are,  and  so 
alone  are,  truly  safe,  and  secured  in  the  inheritance  of  true 
happiness,  is  a  fact  not  to  be  ignored,  or  by  an  effort  kept 
out  of  view,  any  more  than  any  other  fact ;  nay,  it  is  one  to 
be  realized  with  appropriate  thankfulness.  But  all  the 
elements  of  religion  have  an  intrinsic  value,  a  high  excellence, 
because  of  what  they  are  in  themselves,  apart  altogether 
from  the  consideration  of  these  consequences  of  safety  and 
eternal  happiness ;  and  it  is  in  cultivating  these  elements  of 
the  divine  life  simply  and  purely  each  as  itself  and  for  its 
o^vn  sake,  that  we  grow  in  them,  valuing  righteousness  for 
its  own  sake,  holiness  for  its  own  sake,  love — love  to  God 
and  love  to  man — for  the  sake  of  what  love  is. 

.  .  .  Your  likeness  is  in  an  oval  gilt  frame.  I  like  to 
look  at  it,  and  catch  myself  sometimes  speaking  to  it. 
Separation,  as  well  as  trouble  (I  mean  sickness)  develops 
mutual  love.  Your  letter  of  the  last  night  of  the  year  shows 
how  the  past  lives  in  you.  These  memories  are  healthful, 
my  own  dear  boy,  and  I  am  most  thankful  that  you  so  cher- 
ish them. 

i6th  April,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  have  had  many  precious  friendships,  but  I  have 
felt  that  there  was  something  peculiar  in  the  bond  between 
me  and  my  brother,  ready  made — made  by  God  Himself, 
who  gave  us  to  each  other  by  this  special  brotherhood,  which 
was  anterior  to  and  over  and  above  what  my  friendship  with^ 
him  had  in  common  with  other  friendships.  And  the  older 
I  get  the  more  I  value  ties  of  blood,  even  as  memories,  and 


1866-67.  BROWNING'S  POEMS.  131 

should  I  not  say  also  hopes  ?  As  a  part  of  the  endowment 
of  life,  and  of  the  provision  which  God  has  made  for  render- 
ing existence  a  good  gift,  the  relationships  of  family  are  very 
precious  ;  and  the  love  in  God  which  they  reveal  (as  being 
His  devising  and  His  gifts)  enhances  their  value  to  us  in 
proportion  as  our  love  to  God  makes  the  most  important 
aspect  of  all  gifts  to  be  what  they  add  to  our  knowledge  of 
Him, — what  fitness  they  have  to  cherish  the  faith  and  hope 
and  love  which  bind  us  to  Him. 

My  darling  boy,  I  do  not  wish  either  to  oppress  you  with 
exhortations  or  to  ask  for  any  expression  of  response  beyond 
what  your  heart  freely  moves  you  to  send  in  return.  I  know 
how  delicate  a  thing  our  "  hidden  life"  in  Christ  is,  and  how 
much  our  singleness  of  eye,  and  simplicity  in  cherishing  the 
life  that  is  in  God's  favour,  may  be  injured  by  speaking  about 
it  to  others,  even  when  those  others  are  so  connected  with 
our  thoughts  and  feelings,  both  as  having  counselled  us  and 
as  praying  for  us,  that  we  feel  they  have  some  right  to  know 
something  of  the  progress  in  us  in  which  they  have  so  sacred 
an  interest.  The  only  recognition  of  the  exceeding  delicacy 
of  the  subject  of  our  religious  feelings  that  I  have  ever  met 
that  at  all  came  up  to  my  own  feeling  about  it,  is  in  a  letter 
of  Robertson  of  Brighton  in  his  life  recently  published, — a 
life  of  deep  interest.  So  you  will  not  feel  in  any  bondage  as 
to  speaking  or  not  speaking  to  me. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  March,  1866. 
.  .  .  Since  writing  to  you  I  have  been  reading  a  volume 
of  Browning's  poems,  which  James  has,  in  connection  with 
Nichol's  class  work  ;  and  have  most  unexpectedly  come  on 
a  passage  in  which  he  deals,  in  his  way,  with  the  idea  as  a 
form  of  modern  doubt  to  which  I  referred  as  having  had  my 
attention  directed  to  it  by  Shairp.     The  poem  is  called  "  a 


132  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

death  in  the  desert " — the  death,  of  St.  John,  to  whom  you 
are  brought  first  as  in  a  dying  state,  and  then  reviving  for  a 
short  time,  in  which  he  gives  to  those  about  him  (somewhat 
as  Ignatius  is  made  by  Gambold  to  do)  anticipations  of  the 
future  of  the  thought  of  man  concerning  God ;  giving  last  the 
question  "Is  not  that  which  we  believe  a  projection  of  our- 
selves ?" 

Meeting  this  in  poems  so  much  read  as  Bro\vning's  I  see 
that  it  has  been  more  before  men's  minds  than  I  imagined, 
— was  so  probably  before  he  dealt  with  it,  and  must  at  all 
events  have  been  since.  Practically — I  mean  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  v^oxdi.  practical,  i.e.,  as  affecting  what  we  are  and 
how  we  bear  ourselves  in  our  relation  to  God — there  is  not 
much  difference  between  this  form  of  scepticism  and  that  at 
which  Clough  arrived.  Indeed,  were  its  conclusions  tenable 
they  would  go  no  farther  than  his — viz.,  that  we  know  no- 
thing of  God.  No  doubt  he  clings  to  the  faith  that  God  is, 
and  with  some  comfort, — a  comfort  implying  some  instinc- 
tive feeling  that  God  not  only  is  but  is  good.  And  I  could 
easily  conceive  of  him  as  even  "  building  an  altar  to  the  un- 
knoA\Ti  God;"  praying,  I  mean,  to  God  as  unknown.  But 
such  prayer,  however  it  might  express  the  sense  of  depend- 
ence, could  not  be  any  going  forth  of  love,  or  of  trust  felt  to 
be  invited  ; — trust,  and  still  more  love,  implying  faith  in  the 
name  of  God.  I  suppose,  however,  that  the  doubt  with 
which  Browning  deals  is  connected  rather  with  "  positivism  " 
than  with  such  thoughts  as  Clough  still  clung  to. 

I  have  been  feeling  much  about  the  tendencies  of  thought 
called  "  rationalistic,"  and  the  negative  attitude  of  mind 
which  those  are  occupying  who  are  one  to  the  eye  as 
"  Broad,"  rather  because  of  their  common  claim  for  freedom 
of  thought,  than  because  of  much  that  is  common  in  the 
result  of  their  thinking.  This  is  an  important  point  of  differ- 
ence between  them  and  the  Reformers  ;  for  though  the  name 
of  "  Protestant  "  is  negative,  there  was  an  exceeding  amount 


1866-67.  HISTORICAL  CHRISTIANITY.  133 

of  positive  faith  which  made  them  positively  one  while  its 
freshness  remained,  and  while  they  met  as  defending  it  from 
the  Church  of  Rome. 

But  I  do  not  feel  that  there  is  at  present  any  great  founda- 
tion-truth that  is  to  unfettered  thinkers  what  "justification 
by  faith  "  was  to  Luther  and  his  fellow-workers.  To  me  the 
realization  of  this  is  a  call  to  quiet  peaceful  waiting  in  tender- 
ness of  spirit, — acknowledging  all  fragments  of  truth  as  rays 
of  light,  and,  above  all,  welcoming  all  indications  of  life  with 
whatever  forms  of  thought  it  may  be  combined. 

March,  1S66. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Erskine  used  to  say  that  "  one  knowing 
God  could  afford  to  give  Him  back  all  His  promises,  and 
trust  to  what  He  is."  This  he  spoke  with  perhaps  a 
healthful  jealousy  of  a  state  of  mind  which  seemed  to  hold 
God  as  committed  by  His  promises.  But  my  sympathy  was 
with  the  recognition  of  tender  condescension  to  us  which  is 
in  Hebrews  vi.  17-20.  The  truth  is  that  the  name  of  God 
becomes  at  once  a  prophecy  and  a  promise  to  one  beUeving 
in  God,  and  looking  up,  from  the  midst  of  man's  present 
sad  environment,  to  the  face  of  God,  to  see  what  hope  there 
is  for  man  in  the  heart  of  God  that  there  looks  out  on  us  : 
looks  on  us  with  that  look  which  is  "  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  These  words  bring  before  us  all 
that  we  mean  by  "historical  Christianity;"  and  so  they  bring 
before  us  all  that  through  Christianity  we  know  of  God ;  and 
so  they  raise  us  up  to  that  love  in  God  which  has  originated 
all  by  which  it  is  manifested.  There  is  no  condition  of 
mind  that  is  more  remote  from  my  own  experience  than  the 
further  step  which  some  are  inclined  to  take ;  the  step  of 
saying,  "  What  we  can  thus  ascend  by  to  God,  who  is  Love, 
may  have  been  in  reality  but  a  descent  of  the  human  mind 
from  appreciation  of  God  as  love, — a  fiction  expressing 
what  love  might  do,  not  a  history  of  what  love  has  done." 


134  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

No  measure  of  soul-satisfying  discernment  of  aptitude  in  the 
Gospel  to  manifest  love, — or  to  secure  the  fulfilment  in  us 
of  what  love  in  God  must  desire  for  us, — to  which  I  have 
ever  attained,  has  ever  seemed  to  me  to  suggest  the  possi- 
bility (far  less  to  justify  the  conclusion)  that  what  I  am  thus 
able  to  apprehend  I  could  of  myself  have  imagined.  Not 
even  when  historical  Christianity  is  doing  for  me  that  which 
is  highest  in  the  way  of  faith  in  God,  do  1  feel  that  it  has 
raised  me  above  itself  to  the  extent  that  I  rest  quietly  in  the 
vision  to  which  it  has  raised  me,  with  an  assurance  which 
arises  simply  out  of  what  that  vision  is.  I  never  separate 
that  vision  from  the  facts  by  the  faith  of  which  I  have  been 
raised  to  it,  even  while  conscious  that  all  independent 
evidence  of  the  reality  of  these  facts  (so  far  as  they  can  rest 
upon  evidence)  is  but  a  small  element  in  my  faith,  in  com- 
parison of  the  power  found  in  the  faith  of  them  as  faith 
which  worketh  by  love. 

It  may  seem  reasoning  in  a  circle  to  say,  "  I  am  helped 
to  believe  that  God  is  love  because  these  facts  of  Chris- 
tianity reveal  His  love,"  and,  "  I  am  helped  to  believe  these 
facts  because  of  the  love  they  reveal."  But  it  is  a  circle 
which  I  am  constantly  treading.  Sometimes  I  set  myself  to 
meditate  simply  on  the  facts,  concluding  from  them  as  to 
what  I  am  justified  in  ascribing  to  God  of  personal  interest 
in  myself  and  others, — what  hope  towards  God  I  may 
assuredly  cherish.  Sometimes  I  set  myself  to  meditate  on 
God  as  love,  that  I  may  have  my  faith  in  the  reality  of  what 
I  believe  strengthened:  which  I  find  to  be  just  in  proportion 
as  the  acts  which  are  thus  ascribed  to  God  are  seen  to  be 
forms  which  it  was  according  to  the  nature  of  love  to  take. 

I  am  speaking  just  now  of  that  internal  evidence  which 
arises  out  of  and  which  grows  with  7-eligious  experieme,  and  is 
over  and  above  that  internal  evidence  which,  before  ex- 
perience, is  an  element  in  faith.  This  latter  is  that  because 
of  which  the  Gospel  is  first  welcomed;  according  to  the 


1866-67.         UNIFORMITY  NOT  DESIRABLE.  135 

words,  "  having  found  one  pearl  of  great  price,  he  sells  all 
that  he  has  that  he  may  buy  that  pearl."  The  former  is 
what  the  words  refer  to,  "He  that  believeth  hath  the  witness 
in  himself;"  viz.,  the  witness  "that  God  has  given  to  us 
eternal  life,  and  that  this  life  is  in  his  Son." 

Whatever  place  external  evidence,  whether  of  miracle  or 
of  prophecy,  had  in  the  faith  of  the  apostles,  and  however 
impossible  it  was  for  them  to  be  tried  by  doubts  about  the 
supernatural  in  either  form,  who  were  living  in  the  midst  of 
it, — performing  miracles,  familiar  with  prophesyings,  having 
supernatural  guidance,  &c., — it  is  quite  clear  that  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  had  passed  out  of  darkness  into  light, 
from  death  to  life,  was  their  ultimate  certainty  that  it  was 
light  and  was  life, — light  from  God  and  life  in  God, — which 
they  were  proving.  And  if  this  was  their  case,  how  much 
more  ours,  to  whom  the  siipej-natiiral  rests  upon  historical 
evidence,  while  the  spiritual  we  share  in.  But,  however  the 
facts  in  the  region  of  the  supernatural  with  which  they  were 
familiar  as  with  any  other  facts  of  experience,  are  known  to 
us  only  from  the  record  which  they  have  left,  I  am  far 
indeed  from  sharing  in  the  feeling  that  has  with  many  taken 
the  place  of  the  blind  resting  upon  miracles,  to  which  men 
had  been  called  (as  by  Dr.  Chalmers  in  his  External 
Evidences  of  Christianity) ;  the  feeling,  I  mean,  now  often 
expressed,  that  the  record  of  the  supernatural  is  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  help  to  faith. 

24th  March. 
.  .  .  Can  we  conceive  of  a  church  of  living  men,  in 
various  conditions  spiritually  as  well  as  intellectually,  and 
think  of  a  mind  resolved  in  all  points,  and  seeing  all  things 
clearly,  as  the  ideal  of  the  teachers  in  the  church?  We 
must  choose  between  the  uniformity  of  universal  blind 
submission  to  authority,  as  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
great  diversity  in  light  and  in  personal  proving  of  truth; 


136  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xil 

such  diversity  as  we  see  is  the  necessary  result  of  true 
individual  participation  in  light.  I  know  that  Romish 
uniformity  is  contended  for  by  Protestant  churches,  substi- 
tuting confessions  of  faith  for  the  Pope.  But  the  moment 
we  realize  what  it  is  to  know  truth,  as  distinguished  from  a 
traditional  assent  to  dogmas,  we  are  individually  taken  off 
this  ground, — feeding  thenceforth  on  what  we  find  bread  of 
life,  however  much  of  what  the  standards  of  a  church 
contain  may  not  yet  have  become  bread  of  life  to  us.  My 
faith  is  that  we  rightly  do  so,  dwelling  in  peace  with  others 
who  see  less,  or  see  more,  or  even  as  to  intellectual  form  see 
differently  from  what  we  do.  And  this  last  thought  has 
been  of  practical  value  to  me  in  proportion  as  I  have  come 
to  see  how  much  there  may  be  of  spiritual  and  essential 
oneness  where  there  is  much  seeming  divergence  intel- 
lectually. No  man,  excepting  Paul,  has  seemed  to  me  to 
attain  so  much  to  the  pure,  simple,  spiritual  confidence  of 
faith  as  Martin  Luther;  yet  there  is  no  question  that  his 
language,  under  Melanchthon's  logical  treatment,  has  been 
worked  into  a  system  which  makes  it  easy  to  disguise  a  self- 
righteous  peace  in  the  form  of  justification  by  faith.  His- 
torically I  believe  that,  whatever  the  dogma  with  which  it 
has  been  intellectually  connected,  the  true  peace  of  faith  has 
ever  been  one  and  the  same. 

To  Miss  Mary  M'Callum. 

Laurel  Bank,  23rd  March,  1866. 
.  .  I  was  sorry  to  miss  your  dear  father's  call  when 
he  last  called.  I  am  always  refreshed  by  a  visit  from  hjm. 
No  one  so  sums  up  my  life  as  a  minister  from  its  beginning 
up  to  this  day.  And  it  is  a  great  comfort  to  have  it  thus 
written  in  the  heart  and  spirit  of  a  living  man.  If  your  father 
is  my  child  in  the  Lord,  you  have  all  been  growing  up,  and 
living  on,  in  a  special  relation  to  me,  as  having  his  witness  to 


1866-67.  ''ECCE  HOMO."  137 

what  it  was  my  privilege  to  teach; — such  a  witness  as  must 
ahvays  bring  much  responsibihty ;  more  especially  when  the 
grace  of  God  is  seen  sanctifying  parental  love.  Dear  Mary, 
may  you  fully  benefit  by  the  share  you  have  in  this  gift. 


2o  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  23rd  March,  1866. 

My  dear  Friend, — I  was  very  glad  to  receive  your  letter,, 
and  have  been  desirous  to  write  in  reply  ;  but  I  do  not  write 
much,  and  other  claims  in  this  way  have  seemed  more 
urgent — though  not  more  attractive. 

It  must  need  a  great  measure  of  watchfulness  and  self- 
denial  to  withhold  from  over-working  in  such  a  sphere  of  the 
promise  of  usefulness  as  that  in  which  you  are  labouring.  I 
trust  you  may  be  able  to  realize  that  you  are  not  your  own 
to  spend  too  fast — any  more  than  to  spare.  I  suppose  that 
you  have  had  more  bracing  weather  since  you  wrote.  We 
have  been  having  our  winter  only  latterly  :  to-day  we  are  all 
white  with  a  fresh  fall  of  snow.  I  am  glad  that  Mrs.  Vaughan 
is  well,  and  thankful  for  your  improved  account  of  your 
mother.  We  are  well.  I  have  been  in  better  health  this 
winter  than  for  several  years  ;  in  so  much  that  I  am  now 
thinking  of  going  to  the  South  (I  mean  England)  in  the  early 
summer ;  and  may  be  offering  you  a  visit  on  my  way  up  or 
down.     .     .     . 

I  have  not  seen  the  book  on  the  Atonement  ^  which  you 
mention.  I  shall  make  myself  acquainted  with  it  if  I  have 
opportunity,  as  it  has  interested  you.  Ecce  Homo  I  have 
read  some  time  ago ;  I  mean  on  its  first  coming  out.  It  in- 
terested me  very  much.  I  was  not  sure  how  much  of  its 
silence  was  reticence,  or  the  result  of  being  but  feeling  his 
way.  It  is  in  some  respects  the  best  examination  of  the 
^  Oxenham's  Catholic  Doctrine  of  the  Atonemetit. 


138  MEMORIALS.  chap.  XII. 

grounds  on  which  we  recognize  Christ  as  "  the  hght  of  the 
world"  that  I  know  to  exist  as  the  product  of  a  free  inquiry. 
Taking  it,  as  I  do  everj'thing,  to  the  light  of  the  two  great 
Commandments — love  to  God  and  love  to  man — I  felt  the 
passing  by  the  first  to  take  up  the  second  (as  his  book  may 
l)e  said  to  do ;  though,  seemingly  of  set  purpose,  he  avoids 
the  old  word  "love")  what  awakened  some  distrust :  it  has 
so  much  appeared  to  me  a  tendency  of  our  time  to  find  in 
the  second  commandment  both  a  sufficient  social  bond,  and 
an  expression  of  the  whole  duty  of  man.  But  I  read  on, 
putting  this  objection  aside,  and  willing  to  weigh,  on  its  own 
merits,  his  conception  of  what  man  owes  to  man,  and  his  re- 
cognition of  the  light  shed  on  this  by  our  Lord's  teaching, — 
His  teaching  by  word  and  deed.  As  limited  to  this  man- 
ward  aspect  of  man,  I  followed  his  rising  from  level  to  level 
with  much  pleasure.  Yet  two  things  I  felt  as  shortcomings  : 
(i)  I  felt  that  he  does  not  rise  after  all  to  the  true  and  pure 
conception  of  love  ;  and  this  because  (2)  he  does  not  see  the 
love  of  Christ  in  that  which  is  the  highest  and  perfect  ex- 
pression of  it.  (i)  In  limiting,  as  he  does,  the  reference  of 
the  prayer  on  the  cross,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do,"  he  seems  to  me  to  speak  as  one  not  in 
the  pure  light  of  love.  And  this  may  be  because  (2)  he  does 
not  learn  love  from  the  commendation  of  the  love  of  God  in 
that  Avhile  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us. 

His  confining  to  the  Roman  soldiers  the  intercession  of 
our  Lord  on  the  cross, — and  so  seeing  in  the  words  "  They 
know  not  what  they  do"  only  the  recognition  of  an  ignorance 
in  which  one  man  may  differ  from  another, — is,  mercifully, 
what  a  simple  reader  of  Scripture  will  feel  justified  in  putting 
from  him,  by  the  prayer  of  Stephen,  "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin 
to  their  charge:"  a  prayer  not  for  Roman  soldiers,  but  for 
the  very  class  of  persons  whose  advantages  as  to  light  are 
regarded  as  excluding  them  from  the  prayer  offered,  it  is 
assumed,  distinctively  for  these  ignorant  heathens.     But  the 


1866-6;.  DEFECTS  IN ''ECCE  HOMO."  139 

true  protection  from  any  limiting  distinctions  as  to  the  for- 
giveness which  we  receive,  and  which  we  are  to  cherish  and 
to  manifest,  is  seeing  ourselves  in  that  light  of  truth  in  which 
we,  fhankfully  and  in  utmost  self-abasement,  cease  from  the 
hopeless  task  of  weighing  our  own  unworthiness  by  putting 
sins  and  ignorance  into  one  scale,  and  the  ideal  of  good 
into  the  other, — in  order  to  raise  our  hope  of  mercy  by  taking 
from  the  demerit  of  our  sin, — and  bless  God  that,  taking  the 
lowest  ground, — and  as  being  the  chief  of  sinners, — we  still 
find  all  our  utmost  need  met  in  the  forgiveness  which  the 
Gospel  reveals.  There  is  no  gain — there  never  can  be — in 
accepting  any  fiction ;  and,  therefore,  there  would  be  no  gain 
in  thinking  ourselves  worse  than  we  are :  but  this  is  not 
needed  in  order  to  our  coming  under  the  power  of  the  law, 
"  She  loved  much  because  much  was  forgiven  her." 

But  the  great  defect,  to  my  mind,  in  the  teaching  of  this 
book,  is,  the  ignoring  of  the  first  and  great  commandment : 
this  both  as  it  is  the  great  commandment  and  as  it  is  the 
Jirst.  For  to  me  the  second  is  so  much  a  corollary  to  the 
first, — and  to  be  approached  through  the  first, — that,  while 
the  first  is  ignored,  the  light  of  the  second  must  be  imperfect, 
and  the  strength  to  respond  to  it,  as  it  may  be  responded  to, 
be  unknown.  I  know  that  some  appear  to  themselves  to 
find  strength  enough  for  love  to  man  in  the  beauty  and 
rightness  of  love.  Others  again — which  may  prove  a  possible 
history — say,  *'  Men  may  begin  with  trying  to  love  men,  not 
raising  their  thoughts  or  their  hearts  to  God,  and  may  come 
to  find,  in  the  hopelessness  of  realizing  their  ideal,  the  revela- 
tion to  them  of  their  need  of  God  as  the  fountain  of  love; 
and  such  a  fountain  because  Himself  love ;  and,  in  being 
love,  the  proper  object  of  a  supreme  and  necessary  love." 
And  if  this  writer  is  really  feeling  his  way,  or — what  is  not 
impossible — only  not  realizing  the  relation  of  love  to  man  to 
love  to  God,  while  yet  recognizing  love  as  the  right  mind 
of  man  towards  God, — then  another  volume  may  supplv  what 


140 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 


is  wanting.  And  the  truth  ^v^ll  adjust  itself,  though  his  order 
be  not  its  order. 

One  thing  I  have  felt,  in  the  acceptance  this  book  is  meet- 
ing with,  that  it  is  one  of  the  proofs  that  practical  light — light 
for  life — is  increasingly  the  felt  need  of  our  time :  and  this  is 
to  me  the  most  hopeful  thing  in  our  present  condition. 

I  have  read  with  interest,  and  I  may  say  with  thankfulness, 
the  article  in  Macmiilan  on  prayer  by  your  friend  Mr. 
Llewelyn  Davies.  Yet  it  does  not  take  the  highest  ground, 
and  that  to  which,  I  think,  from  the  concluding  sentence,  he 
is  probably  himself  feeling  that  we  rise  with  men  of  science. 
The  distinction  he  marks  between  laws  of  nature  and  the 
course  of  nature  is  real,  and  may  be  used,  as  he  does,  as  in- 
dicating a  region  in  which  the  hearing  and  answering  of 
prayer  might  coexist  with  all  that,  on  the  ground  of  the  re- 
sults of  scientific  investigation,  is  held  by  Professor  TjTidall 
as  a  physical  series  of  causes  and  effects.  But,  on  the  one 
hand,  I  cannot  believe  God  to  have  so  shut  Himself  out 
from  nature, — and  still  less  believe  Him  to  be  so  shut  out 
from  nature  by  necessities  in  nature  not  of  God, — as  that  He 
can  only  approach  nature  through  man ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  am  quite  prepared  to  find  the  necessity  contended  for 
in  the  region  of  matter,  assumed  also  in  the  region  of  mind, 
on  the  ground  of  analogy — though  not  what  admits  of  de- 
monstration— and  as  what  niust  be  assumed  in  order  to  reach 
an  intelligible  theory  of  the  Universe,  as  being,  and  being 
ever,  the  form  in  which  07ie  will  manifests  itself.  By  this  path 
Professor  Tyndall  may  escape  from  this  entangling  of  fixity 
and  necessary  sequences  by  the  consideration  of  the  free 
action  of  mind.     He  may  say,  "  It  but  seems  free." 

It  is  important  to  remember,  in  connection  with  this  dis- 
tinction between  laws  of  nature  and  the  course  of  nature, 
that,  however  it  suggests  how  answers  to  prayer  may  be  pos- 
sible in  such  a  case  as  this  of  the  cattle  plague, — in  which 
there  may  be  a  cure,  and  which  cure  may  be  suggested  to 


1866-6;.  EASTER  DAY.  141 

some  one's  mind, — it  offers  no  help  to  the  faith  of  the  facts 
connected  with  the  life  of  Christ,  and  the  power  put  forth  by 
Him,  and  by  his  disciples  in  his  name ;  which  Professor 
Tyndall  would,  I  suppose,  refuse  to  believe,  and  reject  as 
impossible. 

I  must  bring  this  long  letter  to  a  close.     How  the  solem- 
nity of  our  time  deepens  ! — Your  affectionate  friend, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 


To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  Easter  Day,  1866. 

I  have  been  happy  to-day  in  meditating  on  what  are  very 
favourite  words  with  me,  and  words  which  Easter  day  may 
well  recal :  "  God  raised  Him  from  the  dead  and  gave  Him 
glory,  that  our  faith  and  hope  might  be  in  God."  Faith  and 
hope  in  the  creature  we  are  prone  to,  and  ordinary'  human 
life  is  animated  by  such  faith  and  hope;  but  death  condemns 
all  rest  of  the  heart  in  these  as  alike  delusive  and  godless. 
"  He  who  has  abolished  death  and  brought  life  and  immor- 
tality to  light  by  the  Gospel "  substitutes  faith  and  hope  in 
God — "  an  anchor  of  the  soul  sure  and  steadfast,  and  entering 
into  that  which  is  within  the  veil." 

What  I  am  feeling  is  the  excellence  of  the  rest  for  the 
heart  which  comes  in  this  way — excellence  in  reference  to  its 
divine  nature,  and  in  respect  of  its  immovable  basis.  Our 
interest  in  the  death  of  Christ  and  in  His  resurrection  from 
the  dead  has  many  aspects  besides  that  which  I  ani  now 
contemplating :  viz.,  our  deliverance  from  being  dependent 
on  the  creature,  and  our  being  raised  to  direct  conscious 
trust  in  God  ;  which  change,  however,  is  the  root  change, 
bearing  the  fruit  of  the  other  changes — our  keeping  ourselves 
unspotted  from  the  world,  our  dwelling  in  heavenly  places  in 
Christ. 


142  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xti. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  12th  April,  1866. 

Your  mother  enjoyed  Mr.  Jowett's  lectures  [on  Socrates], 
which  I  read  to  her,  very  much.  She  thought  their  large- 
ness would  refresh  you.  It  is  indeed  a  happy  change  to  be 
seeking  to  give  our  God's  several  gifts  their  proper  places, 
instead  of  setting  them  one  against  another,  depreciating 
one  to  exalt  another. 

As  to  the  success  with  which  Mr.  Jowett  has  set  himself 
to  this  attractive  task,  while  I  feel  that  what  he  has  accom- 
plished has  much  artistic  beauty  (of  the  kind  that  I  remember 
marked  my  dear  Scott's  lectures  on  such  men  as  Anselm,  or 
Bernard,  or  Dante) ;  and  while  I  believe,  historically,  that 
philosophy  has  been  helpful  sometimes  to  religion  as  ethical 
philosophy,  I  am  far  from  feeling  that  religion  has  been  in 
need  of  such  help  from  inadequacy  in  itself  for  keeping  us  in 
the  narrow  way,  had  its  proper  resources  been  drawn  upon. 
Thus  what  I  think  1  have  seen  philosophy  doing  for  some 
minds,  in  saving  them  from  the  narrowing  tendency  of  mere 
doctrine  (in  the  endeavour  to  gather  doctrine  from  texts),  I 
believe  would  have  been  better  done  by  allowing  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  and  the  13th  chapter  of  ist  Corinthians  their 
due  power  and  proper  place.  (Of  course  that  has  not  been 
a  just  conclusion  as  to  doctrine  itself  which  needed  correc- 
tion.) I  think  I  have  told  you  of  ray  friend  who  thought 
the  intention  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  to  cast  us 
upon  faith  for  justification  by  placing  an  ideal  before  us 
which  would  induce  self-despair.  He,  in  consistency,  would 
have  said  the  same  thing  of  the  Apostle's  commendation  and 
illustration  of  charity.  Sound  ethics  might  have  saved  him 
from  this.  But  a  teachable  hearing  of  our  Lord's  words 
declaring  who  are  "  blessed,"  would  have  far  more  effectually 
secured  a  true  conception  of  salvation. 


1866-67.         RITUALISM  AT  ST.  ALB  AN' S.  143 

I  have  been  reading  different  things  of  which  I  would  fain 
have  expressed  something  to  you  of  what  I  have  felt  in 
reading  them.  I  must  not  forget  to  direct  your  attention  to 
an  article  in  Good  Words  for  April,  which  I  have  just  read,, 
by  Professor  Plumptre,  which  has  pleased  me  more  than 
anything  I  have  recently  seen.  But  what  I  refer  to  is,  not 
this,  or  anything  that  has  given  me  pleasure,  but  some  things 
that  have  given  me  much  pain.  The  first  was  an  account  in 
a  recent  number  of  the  Guardian  sent  to  me  for  this  very 
article  by  the  Bishop  of  Argyll,  whom  it  had  shocked 
not  a  little,  detailing  the  Palm  Sunday  and  Good  Friday 
observances  at  St.  Alban's,  which  seems  to  occupy  the  fore- 
most place  at  present  in  Anglican  ritualism.  I  was  struck  to 
see  it  not^d  by  the  writer  of  the  communication,  ''  that  how- 
ever ritualistic  any  church  became,  the  opening  of  another 
church,  not  too  far  distant,  that  was  still  more  ritualistic 
than  it,  drew  the  men  away  to  the  new  church."  It  seemed 
to  me  like  the  progressive  development  of  the  spirit  of 
separation  as  I  saw  it  long  ago, — taking  men  first  to 
Independency,  then  to  Baptism,  and  then  from  more  open 
Baptist  communion  to  that  which  is  called  "  close  com- 
munion." 

But  "  forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  and  pressing 
on  to  things  still  before,"  as  it  is  the  description  of  progress 
in  the  right  path,  is  an  experience  to  be  looked  for  in  wrong 
paths  also;  earnestness,  however  directed,  leading  to  develop- 
ment. Earnestness  in  following  to  its  legitimate  conclusions 
any  principle  once  adopted,  has  a  power  to  command  a 
certain  respect,  apart  from  the  question  of  the  original  choice 
of  the  principle.  But  such  respect  needs  to  be  carefully 
watched  that  subsequent  devotion  do  not  sanctify  to  us  a 
wrong  beginning. 

The  case  that  always  comes  back  to  me,  in  illustration  of 
this  dangerous,  and,  it  may  be,  fascinating  combination,  is 
that  of  Ignatius  Loyola  and  Jesuitism.     This  St.   Alban's 


144 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 


ritualism  is  very  affecting.  It  recals  to  me  what  I  felt  on  the 
Continent  in  seeing  the  real  feeling  manifested  in  a  worship 
which  seemed  fed  and  sustained  by  the  vivid  realization  of 
Christ's  sufferings  as  physical  pain,  and  which  recalled  the 
words,  "knowing  Christ  after  the  flesh."  There  does  not 
seem  any  limit  to  the  emotional  religion  that  may  thus  be 
cultivated,  which  yet  may  be  devoid  of  spiritual  apprehen- 
sions of  Christ,  of  what  His  sufferings  for  our  sins  really 
were,  or  what  His  love  sought  to  obtain  for  us  through  them, 
even  fellowship  in  His  own  mind,  His  own  divine  life. 
There  seems,  I  say,  no  limit  in  this  emotional  religion,  as 
there  is  none  in  that  which  is  moral  and  spiritual;  i.e.,  no 
limit  in  progress  towards  that  infinitely  distant  ideal  which  is 
set  before  us  in  Christ. 

To  Miss  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  14th  May,  1866. 

I  do  not  know  whether  you  have  been  reading 
Ecce  Homo,  which  John  has  been  engaged  with, — not  with 
much  satisfaction  :  nor  did  I  think  it  would  be.  But  he 
could  not  well  be  ignorant  of  a  book  on  such  a  subject  that 
is  awakening  so  much  attention ;  and  is  thought  fitted  to  do 
good  by  some,  as  Mr.  Maurice,  who  I  thought  would  have 
(though  on  other  grounds)  felt  as  little  satisfied  with  it 
as  myself  But  the  good  they  expect  is  perhaps  that  for 
which  I  also  have  been  hoping ;  i.e.,  good  to  those  who,  we 
may  say,  have  everything  to  learn.  But  its  blanks  are  many 
and  serious  ;  and,  though  in  advance  of  the  writers  who  can- 
not accept  the  supernatural,  yet  the  attempt  to  unlock  the 
Gospel  history  without  accepting  the  key  of  our  Lord's 
words,  "  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,"  "  I  do  nothing  of 
myself;  as  I  hear  I  judge,"  and  attempting  to  explain  the 
course  of  Christ  by  asking  "  what  plan  for  reforming  men  did 
He  propose  to  Himself?"  has  obliged  the  writer  to  strain, 


1866-67.  VISIT  TO  DR.   VAUGHAN.  145 

because  it  has  implied  a  misconception  of  Christ's  conscious 
position.  Still  I  was  very  sorry  for  the  way  in  which  Lord 
Shaftesbury  allowed  himself  to  speak  of  what  I  cannot  but 
think  an  honesi  undertaking. 

My  enjoyment  in  the  South  will  be  not  a  little  chequered 
by  the  pain  which  I  cannot  but  feel  in  coming  in  contact 
with  the  mutual  distrusts  of  good  men ;  who  cannot  give  each 
other  credit  for  the  good  that  I  am  able  to  believe  of  them 
severally. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

The  Vicarage,  Doncaster,  20th  May,  1866. 

James  and  I  got  here  at  half-past  five  last  evening. 

Dr.  Vaughan  is  just  recovering  from  influenza,  and  did 
not  appear  till  we  went  to  dinner.  But  Mrs.  Vaughan 
received  us  with  a  most  cordial  welcome,  as  he  did  also 
when  we  saw  him.  He  is  not  very  fit  for  his  work  to-day, 
but  being  Whitsunday  he  cannot  be  satisfied  not  to  preach, 
which  he  does  in  the  evening;  when  also  they  have  the 
Communion,  and  when  I  am  thankful  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  partaking  in  it.  I  am  glad  that  James  also,  as 
well  as  myself,  will  hear  Dr.  Vaughan. 

In  looking  forward  to  this  visit  to  England,  after  I  had 
ceased  to  hope  ever  to  visit  it  again,  the  state  of  the  church 
has  caused  my  feeling  to  be  a  very  mixed  one.  I  have 
come  up  longing  for  some  refreshing,  and  trusting  to  be 
made  of  some  use,  if  God  be  pleased  to  use  me.  But,  while 
conscious  to  a  catholic  spirit,  and  a  preparedness  to  give 
thanks  for  anything  in  any  quarter  that  may  commend  itself 
to  me  as  of  God,  with  whatever  darkness  and  however 
much  that  is  not  of  God  it  may  be  combined,  still  I 
expect  rather  to  understand  others  than  to  be  understood 
by  them.    .    .   . 

VOL.  II.  K 


146  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

To  Mrs.  Campbell. 
The  Vicarage,  Doncaster,  22nd  May,  1866. 

I  write  a  few  lines  before  leaving  this  most  hospitable 
mansion,  which  I  hope  to  post  at  Leicester,  and  so  intimate 
our  safe  arrival  there.     .     .     . 

We  have  been  having  the  finest  weather,  as  well  as  the 
kindest  treatment.  As  Dr.  Vaughan  was  to  preach  in  the 
evening,  I  did  not  go  out  in  the  forenoon,  but  reserved 
myself.  He  gave  us  a  most  delightful  sermon,  and  in  a 
most  loving  living  way.  They  had  the  Communion  after 
the  evening  service  for  those  who  preferred  going  then;  and 
I  accompanied  Mrs.  Vaughan,  and  felt  it  good  to  be 
there.     .     .     . 

2  Albert  Place,  ist  June,  1866. 

I  am  quite  at  a  loss  where  to  begin — what  to  say — what 
to  leave  unsaid.  ...  I  shall  go  at  once  with  you  to 
the  palace  at  Fulham, — which,  by  the  bye,  I  should  never 
have  reached,  I  think,  yesterday,  if  I  had  not  taken  Donald 
with  me ;  the  Ascot  Races  having  thrown  everything  out  of 
gear  at  the  station.  It  has  been  a  very  successful  morning's 
work.  We  walked  about  with  the  good  bishop  on  the  lawn, 
and  among  the  fine  old  trees,  until  he  had  to  go  into  town 
(about  twelve) ;  and  then  he  took  us  in  the  carriage  with 
him.  We  had  a  great  deal  of  conversation ;  and  his  ques- 
tioning of  me  gave  me  the  opportunity  of  saying  many  things 
to  him  which  I  was  desirous  to  say. 

.  .  .  Everybody  speaks  to  me  of  Ecce  Homo;  and  I 
must  thank  my  love  for  my  second  perusal  of  it,  which 
caused  it  to  be  quite  fresh  in  my  mind.  But  I  was  the 
more  prepared  to  answer  the  bishop's  questions  from  having 
gone  over  the  ground  with  Dr.  Vaughan  and  with  Mr.  D.  J. 
Vaughan. 


1866-67.  VISIT  TO  FULHAM.  147 

We  got  out  of  the  carriage  at  the  nearest  point  to  46 
Eaton  Square,  and  went  to  the  Elliot  Macnaughtens,  where 
we  lunched  and  remained  a  good  long  while. 

.  .  .  We  got  here  in  time  for  a  little  rest  before  I 
went  on  to  the  parsonage.  Mr.  Money  ^  went  to  his  can- 
didates for  confirmation  early  in  the  evening,  and  I  had 
music  from  his  sister-in-law,  who  played  some  of  Beethoven's 
sonatas  which  I  had  heard  our  Maggie  play.     .     .     . 

3rd  June. 

I  know  I  did  not  give  any  adequate  account  of  our  visit 
to  Fulham.  .  .  .  You  may  believe  that  one  thinking  so 
much  as  I  do,  and  having  so  little  opening  for  my  thoughts 
to  flow  out,  in  a  way  that  may  promise  usefulness,  could  not 
but  humbly  and  gratefully  speak  whatever  the  bishop  gave 
me  the  opportunity  of  saying,  as  to  which  I  could  hope 
that  it  might  mingle  beneficially  with  his  thoughts.  And 
without  any  risk  of  seeming  to  take  the  place  of  a  teacher, 
which  with  him  would  not  be  seemly,  I  was  able  to  express 
much  of  what  I  have  been  learning  in  my  Laurel  Bank 
clerical  solitude. 

The  day  was  beautiful,  the  air  balmy ;  the  trees,  the 
growth  of  ages  and  the  natives  originally  of  many  climes, 
are  magnificent,  and  their  shade  was  very  grateful.  To- 
morrow I  lunch  at  the  Deanery,  Westminster,  to  meet  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Vaughan. 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  28th  July,  1S66. 

My  very  dear  Friend, — I  am  now  at  home  again  after 

a  longer  absence  than  any  during  the  last  twenty  years,  and 

have  to  give  thanks  for  much  that  has  been  refreshing  and 

strengthening  in  my  intercourse  with  friends,  old  and  new  ; 

1  The  Rev.  C.  F.  S.  Money,  St.  John's,  Deptford. 


148  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

as  well  as  for  peace  sustained  in  me  by  faith  through  all 
that  trial  of  faith  which  is  ever  arising  in  varying  forms  in 
our  contact  with  the  varied  measures  of  light  and  faith  in 
others;  the  difference  between  whose  apprehensions  and 
one's  own  makes  often  a  new  demand  for  a  reason  of  the 
hope  that  is  in  us.  There  is  much  fermentation  of  thought 
at  this  present  time;  and  of  a  kind  that  makes  it  more 
difficult  to  keep  in  the  narrow  way, — more  difficult,  I  mean, 
to  yield  only  due  sympathy,  and  withhold  acknowledgment 
beyond  one's  own  clear  light.  It  is  difficult,  also,  to  plead, 
as  one  desires  to  do,  for  freedom  of  thought,  without  seem- 
ing to  under-estimate  the  solemn  responsibility  under  which 
such  freedom  is  exercised,  or  the  sin  that  may  be  present  in 
disobedience  to  the  voice  of  truth.  Of  the  measure  of  that 
sin  He  alone  can  judge  who  "discerns  our  thoughts  afar 
off,'  and  distinguishes  between  simple  ignorance  and  re- 
belliousness of  spirit.  We  zxe  falsely  liberal  vAx&n  we  forget 
that  this  distinction  is  real,  and  this  difference  discerned  by 
the  Searcher  of  hearts,  and  dealt  with  by  the  righteous  Lord 
of  our  spirits;  we  become  uncharitable  when  we  arrogate 
His  place  to  ourselves,  and,  in  differing  from  others,  venture 
to  assign  a  moral  cause  for  what  we  regard  as  their  error. 

Such  fermentation  of  thought  as  is  at  present,  and  such 
conflicts  between  old  thought^  and  new,  must  produce  much 
misconception  and  consequent  mutual  injustice.  But  as  in 
learning  to  walk  we  have  many  falls,  we  are  to  have 
patience  as  to  falls  in  men's  attempts  to  walk  in  this  higher 
region,  and  must  "watch  unto  prayer"  that  we  may  not 
ourselves  add  to  the  confusion  and  to  the  mass  of  miscon- 
ception and  injustice. 

Dean  Stanley  seems  more  and  more  to  be  coming  into 
somewhat  of  a  place  of  headship  among  the  Broad  Church 
men ;  partly  because  of  his  courage,  and  partly,  I  think, 
because  of  his  indefiniteness :  for  they  are  a  party  rather  as 
asking  freedom  to  think  than  as  having  formed  thoughts. 


1866-6;.  HUXLEY'S '' LAY  SERMONS."  149 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  nth  Sept.,  1866. 

My  darling  Child, — I  am  not  mixing  my  thoughts  with 
yours,  or  such  an  element  in  your  Hfe  as  I  would  fain  be. 
But  the  Parhnounf  thread  must  predominate  in  the  portion 
now  weaving,  and  determine  its  pattern,  the  flower  being 
wrought  in  it.  For  our  several  lives  are  several  webs,  our- 
selves the  warp,  our  friends  the  woof,  and  not  friends  only, 
but  all  persons  and  things  which  modify  our  being,  the  pat- 
tern resulting  being  the  joint  result. 

My  own  dear  child,  this  is  but  a  most  imperfect  simile ;  for 
the  pattern  is  not  determined  by  the  warp  or  the  woof,  by 
what  we  are  in  ourselves,  or  by  what  persons  and  circum- 
stances are,  but  by  the  attitude  of  our  spirits  towards  God 
in  all  things.  For  "  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God."  So  the  weaving  of  the  web  must  be 
going  on  in  love  to  God,  if  the  pattern  is  to  be  the  "  divine 
ideal "  realized  in  us.  So,  darling,  "  keep  thine  heart  with  all 
diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life."  Keep  it  by 
giving  it  to  God. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

LiNLATHEN,  20th  Sept.,   1866. 

.  .  .  Since  I  came  here  I  have  been  referring  to  my 
little  book,  Christ  the  Bread  of  Life,  in  conversation  with 
Mr.  Erskine,  and  am  glad  to  find  that  his  impression  of  its 
clearness  and  fulness  agrees  with  my  own.  So  I  hope  that 
in  now  re-reading  it  with  the  benefit  of  all  your  recent 
thought  on  the  subject  of  transubstantiation  you  may  find  it 
satisfying.     ... 

I  have  just  been  reading  with  great  pain  Professor 
Huxley's  Lay  Sermons.  It  is  indeed  "  another  gospel 
which  is  not  a  gospel."     But  while  I  feel  that  to  accept 


ISO  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

the  worship  of  an  "unknown  and  unknowable  God" 
would  be  to  fall  back  into  cheerless  darkness  out  of  "  God's 
marvellous  light,"  you  know  that  I  am  not  impatient  of  our 
limits,  or  hindered  from  the  full  enjoyment  of  light  by  the 
sense  of  remaining  darkness ; — a  darkness  which  will  in 
part  pass  away  when  we  come  to  "  know  as  we  are  known," 
but  which  may  also  in  part  continue  for  ever,  and  belong  to 
the  abiding  difference  between  God  as  God,  and  us  to  whom 
He  has  given  a  being.     .     .     . 

It  is  now  the  24th,  and  I  am  finishing  my  letter  after 
my  return  to  Parkhill.  I  am  thankful  for  another  visit 
to  Linlathen.  I  meet  in  no  one  the  same  full  realiza- 
tion of  the  gift  of  God  as  Eternal  Life — the  Life  of 
Christ  to  be  our  life — that  I  see  in  Mr.  Erskine;  and 
this  is  a  bond  of  the  most  sacred  kind.  Living  this 
divine  life — in  measure  more  or  less — must  be  common  to 
us  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus ;  but  many  are  through 
knowledge  of  Christ  partaking  in  His  life  whose  own  con- 
ception of  their  obligations  to  Christ  refer,  not  to  this  their 
true  gain  from  Him,  but  to  certain  other  advantages  from 
faith  which  are  either  imaginary,  or  at  the  best  secondary. 
"  My  son  was  dead  and  is  alive  again,"  is  the  Father's  joy 
over  each  of  us  that  is  "alive  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ;" 
the  consciousness  that  it  is  so,  is  our  own  peace  and  joy 
before  God,  that  "  witness  that  God  has  given  to  us  eternal 
life,  and  that  this  life  is  in  His  Son,"  which,  St.  John  says, 
he  that  believeth  hath  in  himself  (i  John  v.  10). 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 
,  Parkhill,  24th  Sept.,  1866. 

J.  and  I  are  now  back  at  Parkhill,  having  returned  from 
Linlathen  on  Saturday.  These  days — from  Monday  to 
Saturday — passed  happily,  and  I  trust  profitably  to  myself  and 
to  others.     Among  the  elements  of  interest  was  Mr.  Jowett. 


1 866-67.    CONVERSA  TION  WITH  MR.  JO  WETT.    1 5 1 

I  think  I  may  include  what  referred  to  him  in  "  the  benefit 
to  myself;"  whether  in  "the  benefit  to  others,"  I  know  not. 
I  think  we  have  our  mutual  interest  and  kindly  feeling 
strengthened.  Being  a  man  to  whom  what  he  esteems  use- 
fulness to  others  is  a  chief  object  in  social  intercourse,  as  it 
is  to  myself,  I  suppose  we  were  both  (in  a  good  sense) 
aggressive ;  and  that  he  sought  to  enlarge  my  vision,  as  I  to 
deepen  and  raise  his.  But  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  received 
any  new  element  of  thought  from  him  ;  nor  that  I  have  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  a  lodgment  for  any  in  his  mind.  We  had 
one  long  conversation  (from  breakfast  to  lunch)  and  several 
shorter  conversations  arose  out  of  it  subsequently.  He  is 
still  busy  on  his  Plato.  I  said  to  him,  "You  were  engaged 
with  Plato  when  I  met  you  some  years  ago."  He  said, 
"  Yes  ;  if  you  meet  me  here  two  years  hence,  I  hope  you 
will  find  my  task  done."  I  wish  I  could  work  at  what,  if  I 
could  face  it,  would  be  my  task  with  the  "  haleness  "  that  he 
preserves  through  work. 

I  am  very  thankful  that  you  find  that  you  can  speak  with 
comfort  from  notes.  At  the  same  time  I  hope  my  experience 
will  be  a  warning  to  you  not  to  discontinue  \vriting  in  full. 
Nothing  clears  the  mind  like  writing.  I  have  often  found  a 
letter  ^vritten  in  the  end  of  a  week  giving  both  fulness  and 
clearness  to  my  preaching  on  its  subject  (without  any  note) 
on  Sunday.  To  me  to  know  what  I  have  to  impart,  and  to 
be  placed  face  to  face  with  men,  is  the  most  favourable 
position  for  effective  expression. 

To  one  of  his  Daughters. 

Parkhill,  26th  Sept.,  1866. 

My  Child, — I  am  thankful  that  I  have  learned,  not  only 
to  see  that  T  ought  to  say,  but  to  feel  what  it  is  truly  to  say, 
"  good  is  the  will  of  the  Lord  "  in  little  things,  as  well  as  in 
great  things. 


152  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

Many  who  seek  to  be  enabled,  and  are  in  measure  enabled 
to  say  this  in  great  things,  have  yet  to  learn  what  it  is  to  say 
it  in  little  things  ;  and,  in  consequence,  they  are  often  heard 
complaining  of  what  in  little  matters  God  appoints  for  them 
in  a  way  that  contradicts  the  faith  that  "all  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,"  and  that,  there- 
fore, there  is  a  good  in  all  things,  to  be  extracted  from  each 
thing  as  it  comes  by  receiving  it  in  the  light  of  love  :  love, 
both  God's  love  in  sending  it,  and  love  in  ourselves  as 
the  condition  of  spirit  in  which  we  receive  it.  For  love 
to  God,  that  love  which  receives  God  Himself  as  the 
portion  of  the  soul  in  every  cup,  its  sweetest  ingredient, 
whatever  other  sweet  ingredients  may  be  in  it,  is  as  essen- 
tial to  the  right  understanding  of  what  God  does  in  provi- 
dence, as  the  faith  that  He  is  love  in  what  He  does.  This, 
our  part  in  the  matter,  belongs  to — is,  I  may  say,  an  import- 
ant part  of — that  "single  eye"  which  is  full  of  light. 

Darling,  I  am  filling  my  Parkhill  letter  with  what  might 
have  been  written  from  the  Bass  Rock,  or  the  Craig  of  Ailsa 
as  well.     But  you  will  not  complain  of  this. 

I  speak  of  what  I  feel  may  enable  you  to  extract  from 
these  illiberal  and  hasty  utterances  which  "  rile  "  you,  some 
of  the  same  good  which  I  get  from  the  charitable  and  large- 
hearted  thoughts  of  dear  Mr.  Duncan,  for  which  I  give 
thanks. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  9th  October,  1866. 
.  .  .  The  critique  on  Mozley's  book^  in  the  Times 
was  much  better  than  that  in  the  Saturday  Review,  and  gave 
me  a  more  favourable  impression  of  the  argument  than  this 
gives ;  as  to  which,  if  this  reviewer  understands  it,  I  would 
say  it  does  not  go  to  the  real  root  of  this  great  question. 

^  His  Eight  Lectures  on  the  Miracles :  the  Bampton  Lectures  for  1865. 


1866-67.  IRVINGISM.  153 

That  action  in  a  higher  sphere  would  appear  a  miracle  to 
one  looking  at  it  with  the  limits  of  a  lower  sphere,  if  it  proves 
anything,  only  proves  that  that  may  seem  a  miracle  which  is 
not  one  in  reality.  But  the  true  faith  of  miracles  is  not  the 
recognition  of  distinct  spheres,  implying  the  operation  in  the 
higher  of  laws  which  cannot  be  known  as  laws  in  the  lower. 
It  is  the  faith  that  it  pertains  to  God  as  God  to  be  above  all 
forms  of  power,  and  able,  if  He  see  it  right,  to  act  unfettered 
by  them,  willing  any  form  of  being  apart  from  them  as  im- 
mediately as  He  wills  them. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

Helensburgh,  i6th  October,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  am  here  in  my  old  parish ;  with  the  one  of  my 
old  people  of  whom  I  may  have  spoken  to  you  as  the  first 
who  gave  me  the  comfort  of  expressing  benefit  from  my 
teaching — nearly,  if  not  quite,  forty  years  ago !  I  have 
found  him  enjoying  your  charge,  which  he  read  in  the 
Herald,  and  which  he  liked  so  much  that  he  immediately 
procured  all  the  copies  of  that  number  of  the  paper  then 
procurable,  and  sent  them  in  different  directions,  some  to 
America  !  I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  Herald  that  came  to 
me  with  your  seal ;  and  also  for  the  paper  read  in  London 
which  I  had  been  unable  to  wait  in  town  to  hear.     .     .     . 

To  the  Same : 

Written  as  a  Memorandum  at  Bisliopston,  at  tJie  request  of  tlie  Bishop. 

30th  October,  1866. 

I  have  never  received  the  so-called  "  manifestations  of  the 
Spirit "  in  the  church  which  is  connected  with  Mr.  Irving's 
name,  as  being  in  reality  what  they  claim  to  be.  But  this, 
not  because  I  did  not  believe  that  such  gifts  as  were  in  the 
church  at  the  beginning  might  be  restored  to  us,  but  because 


154  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

I  had  no  positive  ground  for  believing  that  these  were  such 
gifts ;  while  the  teaching  with  which  they  were  connected, 
and  to  which  they  seemed  to  put  a  seal,  was  to  me  positive 
evidence  against  the  assumption  of  their  divine  origin.  The 
teaching  to  which  I  refer  is  that  which  is  common  to  this 
church  and  the  Church  of  Rome;  and  is  one  with  what  has, 
under  the  name  of  Puseyism,  been  more  or  less  developed 
in  the  Church  of  England.  I  know  that  these  three  several 
forms  of  what  is,  in  my  mind,  one  thing,  present  themselves 
to  us  with  distinctions  which  are  said  to  be  differences ;  but 
it  is  common  to  them  all  (i)  to  hold  truth  with  such  a  reli- 
ance on  teachers  as  appointed  channels  as  is  inconsistent 
with  the  divine  purpose  that  we  should  be  "all  taught  of 
God  "  and  should  "  in  His  light  see  light ; "  and  (2)  to  expect 
to  feed  on  Christ  as  the  Bread  of  Life  otherwise  than  by  the 
faith  which  beholds  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  so  that  the  ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  are  contemplated  as  ministering  life, — 7iot  as  strength- 
ening of  our  faith  in  Christ  as  our  life,  because  of  the  divine 
light  which  is  in  them,  but  as  themselves  the  objects  of  a 
special  faith  proper  to  themselves,  and  the  essence  of  which 
is  not  obedience  to  light  but  submission  to  darkness. 

To  the  Same  : 

After  a  visit  at  Bislwpston. 
Laurel  Bank,  Monday,  5th  November,  1866. 

The  feeling  of  your  own  and  Lady  Alice's  kindness  re- 
mains with  my  daughter  and  me  freshly ;  and  moves  me  to 
tell  you  how  well  we  have  accomplished  our  getting  home, 
and  how  pleasant  the  retrospect  of  our  visit  to  you  is ; — 
framed  in  between  a  calm  day  going  and  a  calm  and  beauti- 
ful day  returning. 

My  nephew's  cab  was  at  the  gate  as  we  drove  up,  the  dis- 
appointment as  to  our  proper  steamer  issuing  in  our  being 


1866-67.  COMMUNION  WITH  GOD.  155 

an  hour  earlier  here.     My  nephew  was  direct  from  Linlathen^ 
and  gives  a  good  report  of  Mrs.  Stirling  and  Mr.  Erskine. 

You  said  something  about  a  strong  conviction  coming  to 
the  mind  as  in  some  sense  corresponding  with  that  seeing  of 
light  in  light  to  which  we  feel  that  we  are  called.  But  the 
light  of  truth,  however  individual  in  one  view,  is  always  what 
may  be  commejided  to  others  in  a  form  of  which  they  can 
judge ;  differing  in  this  respect  from  what  are  only  vivid  im- 
pressions ;  of  which,  whatever  they  are  to  those  experiencing 
them,  no  account  can  be  given  to  others. 


22nd  November,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  would  find  it  very  difficult  to  offer  my  thoughts 
on  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  such  a  form  as  I 
might  hope  would  help  another;  although  a  doubt  here 
would  affect  not  my  creed  only  but  my  practical  feeling  of 
need  in  seeking  communion  with  God. 

I  am  afraid  I  did  not  make  my  meaning  plain  in  my  refer- 
ence to  what  you  said  about  individual  experiences  which 
have  been  felt  as  light  from  God;  i.e.,  the  distinction  which 
seems  to  me  to  hold  between  such  experiences  and  what  I 
understand  as  the  self-evidencing  nature  of  light.  The  dis- 
tinction which  I  intended  to  mark  is  this : — the  self-evidenc- 
ing nature  of  light  is  such  a  thing  that  one  man  may  expect 
to  make  it  manifest  to  another ;  as  the  apostle  speaks  of  "  by 
manifestation  of  the  truth  commending  himself  to  every 
man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God."  But  there  may  be 
experiences  in  the  history  of  our  personal  intercourse  with 
God,  which  we  cannot  so  commend  to  others,  although  they 
are  to  our  own  consciousness  meetings  with  God.  The 
value  of  these  is  the  faith  in  the  living  God  which  they  both 
imply  and  cherish.  But  their  relation  to  our  individual 
spirit  in  its  personal  ititercourse  with  God  implies  an  element 
distinct  from  the  simple  shining  of  the  light  of  what  God  is. 


156  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

or  what  He  wills  us  to  be.  No  doubt  our  realization  of  what 
God  is,  and  of  what  He  wills  us  to  be,  is  often  combined 
with  our  personal  communion  with  Him :  but  the  one  may- 
be without  the  other,  for  very  clear  light  may  be  without 
communion,  and  communion  may  be  without  any  fresh  light. 
The  study  of  the  philosophy  of  Christianity  tends  to  our 
resting  in  light  without  communion.  On  the  other  hand, 
your  question  as  to  the  prayer,  "  Lord,  show  me  the  light  of 
Thy  countenance,"  connects  itself,  I  think,  with  the  religion 
of  Christianity  as  distinguished  from  its  philosophy.  I  do  not 
understand  such  a  prayer  as  asking  for  an  increase  of  light  of 
truth,  but  as  a  prayer  for  a  divine  personal  acknowledgment 
of  the  individual  as  one  choosing  the  life  that  is  in  God's 
favour.  But  re-reading  your  letter  I  see  that  I  have  said 
something  about  "  felt  sensations  "  which  I  cannot  recal,  and 
with  which  what  I  now  write  may  not  connect  itself  Only 
I  may  add  that,  so  far  from  holding  that  we  can  have  no 
certainty  that  God  is  guiding  us  except  such  as  we  can  com- 
mend and  justify  to  others,  I  believe  that  the  whole  history 
of  revelation  teaches  that  the  perception  of  truth  as  truth, 
and  the  consciousness  that  it  is  to  the  individual  an  imme- 
diate revelation  from  God,  are  quite  distinct ;  the  former  being 
common  to  all  who  really  see  truth  by  its  own  light,  the  latter 
being  the  additional  thing  in  the  experience  of  men  through 
whom  revelation  has  been  given.  And  what  I  believe  to 
have  been  "  additional "  and  distinctive  as  to  what  when  re- 
ceived they  were  to  commend  to  the  consciences  of  others, 
I  believe  was  their  sufficient  security  in  regard  to  any  divine 
communication  which  did  not  contain  in  itself  self-evidencing 
light.  That  such  communications  do  enter  into  the  divine 
plan  seems  to  me  certain  j  unless  such  expressions  as  "  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me  saying,"  "  God  appeared  to 
him  in  a  dream"  &c.,  are  to  be  regarded  as  mere  Eastern 
forms  of  thought.  But  I  know  that  many  feel  as  if  there 
could  be  no  security  against  self-deception  excepting  such  as 


1866-67.     THE  SCOTTISH  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.    157 

the  self-evidencing  nature  of  light  affords.  I  have,  however, 
I  think  brought  out  the  distinction  that  I  recognize  suf- 
ficiently in  my  Thoughts  on  Revelation. 

I  thank  you  for  your  thoughts  about  my  health  and  my 
usefulness.  As  to  my  health,  I  see  no  present  opening  for 
changing  my  present  position.  As  to  my  usefulness,  my  only 
present  hope  is  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  add  a  profitable 
introduction  to  my  book  on  the  Atonement ;  to  which  I  mean 
to  give  myself  as  much  as  I  may  find  possible  for  me  without 
injury. 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  13th  Nov.,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  made  a  pleasant  visit  to  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 
He  is  publishing  the  charge  the  newspaper  report  of  which 
I  sent  you.  His  position  in  his  own  church  is  very  solitary. 
Had  the  bishops  of  the  Scottish  Episcopal  Church  not  been 
so  very  Romanistic  in  their  tendencies,  they  might  be  a 
healthful  influence  in  the  higher  circle  of  our  people.  But, 
as  it  is,  I  cannot  rejoice  in  their  having  the  place  they 
have.  At  the  same  time  I  entirely  condemn  the  recen 
outburst  of  feeling  caused  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's 
act  of  acknowledgment  of  them.^  It  seems  to  me  most 
unclerical  and  low  ground  to  take,  to  hold  being  of  an 
Establishment  a  nearer  bond  than  being  Episcopalians. 
The  legitimate  carrying  out  of  such  a  view  would  be  that  in 
Scotland  Christian  men  should  be  Presbyterians,  whatever 
view  they  take  of  the  question  between  Episcopacy  and 
Presbytery;  as  also  equally  that  in  England  they  should 
be  Episcopahans,  after  the  alleged  example  of  the  Queen ; 
who  has  no  choice,  being  but  one  person  while  queen  of 
two  peoples. 

^  This   refers   to  the  archbishop's  presence   at  the  consecration  of 
liiverness  Cathedral. 


158  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

You  would  be  interested  in  Mr.  Maurice's  appoint- 
ment to  a  Moral  Philosophy  chair  at  Cambridge,  I 
WTOte  to  congratulate  him,  and  have  a  very  cordial 
reply.  It  is  a  position  which  he  is  thankful  to  occupy, 
and  one  which  I  trust  he  will  occupy  with  advantage  to 
many. 

This  day  week  my  friend  Mr.  Edward  Caird  gave  his 
inaugural  lecture  as  professor  of  Moral  Philosophy.  It  was 
very  able,  and  certainly  would  realize  men's  high  expecta- 
tions j  and  his  reception  was  most  cordial.  With  much  of 
what  he  said  I  had  entire  sympathy.  .  .  .  It  is  very 
difficult  in  a  time  like  this  to  do  justice  to  men  of  a  school 
which  one  does  not  know  well :  and  I  know  the  Oxford 
school  but  in  part.  The  one  man  to  whom  I  would  have 
gone  with  the  deeper  questions  now  moved,  dear  Scott,  is 
no  longer  within  my  reach ;  and  I  now  regret  that  I  did  not 
make  a  point  of  knowing  more  of  the  results  at  which  he 
had  arrived  regarding  German — now  Oxford — thought.  But 
latterly  he  was  very  reticent  even  to  me.  What  a  solemn 
thought  it  is,  when  one  would  ask  deep  questions,  that  He 
to  whom  all  truth  is  known — who  is  Himself  the  Truth — is 
ever  present  \vith  one,  seeing  all  one's  darkness,  and  all  that 
the  sense  of  darkness  costs  \  and  yet  is  silent :  not  from 
unwillingness  to  impart  light,  but  from  some  other  cause 
which  we  cannot  judge  of,  but  doubtless  of  the  same  nature 
with  that  which  we  see  a  restraint  upon  His  teaching  when 
on  earth  :  "  I  have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye 
cannot  bear  them  now."  No  doubt  the  promised  Com- 
forter, the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  to  "  guide  us  to  all  truth ; "  yet 
there  are  hindrances  also  delaying  His  impartation  of  truth. 
What  these  all  may  be,  we,  as  I  have  said,  know  not ;  but 
let  us  pray  that  one  be  not  the  lack  of  a  single  eye  in 
ourselves. 


1866-67.  THE  ROW  SERMONS.  159 


To  his  Second  Son. 

loth  November,  1866, 

.  .  .  You  have  inverted  the  order  of  my  own  learning 
in  reading  my  Row  Sermons  last.  But  what  you  have  first 
read,  as  being  last  learned,  ought  to  be  more  clear  and 
thoroughly  digested.  I  know,  indeed,  that  what  I  have  so 
laboured  to  illustrate  in  what  I  have  written  for  the  press 
was  all  present  substantially  very  early  in  my  preaching;  but 
mixed  with  much  that  was  called  forth  by  the  circumstances 
in  which  the  light  was  dawning  on  me :  circumstances,  I 
mean,  inward  as  well  as  outward ;  my  own  habits  of  thought 
as  well  as  conditions  of  other  minds.  What,  however,  has 
most  impressed  a  different  character  on  my  Row  sermons 
as  compared  with  my  books,  is  the  personal  appeal  incident 
to  dealing  with  my  people,  and  the  constant  endeavour  to 
bring  them  to  a  point.  For  I  felt  so  intensely  that  the 
vague  mist  in  which  they  saw  their  own  relations  to  God, 
made  all  sense  of  His  love  powerless,  because  leaving  it 
impersonal. 

I  am  at  present  looking  forward  to  attempting  an  intro- 
duction to  a  second  edition  of  my  book  on  the  Atonement, 
which  Macmillan  tells  me  is  called  for.  If  I  am  enabled  to 
do  it  well,  that  is,  if  I  succeed  in  simply  expressing  what 
recent  outcomings  of  thought  suggest  as  calling  for  a  notice 
in  relation  to  my  subject,  I  shall  be  very  thankful. 

I  see  Maggie  is  sending  you  a  scrap  from  yesterday's 
Herald,  which  is  one  of  several  references  to  the  Church  of 
Scotland's  dealing  with  me  that  this  late  discussion  about 
Episcopacy  in  Scotland  has  occasioned. 

The  proposed  union  of  the  Free  Church  and  the  U.P. 
Church  is  also  renewing  discussion  on  the  subject  of  the 
Atonement ;  the  stricter  portion  of  the  Free  Church  fearing 
that  the  U.P.  are  "not  quite  sound." 


i6o  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xii, 

26th  November,  1866. 

.  .  .  Did  I  mention  the  death  of  my  friend,  Mr. 
Bonar,  on  the  9th  ?  He  was  one  of  my  Row  friends,  and  a 
witness  for  the  defence.  His  death  was  sudden  at  the  last, 
but  not  so  sudden  as  to  prevent  the  most  comforting 
utterances  of  his  mind, — to  be  treasured  by  his  poor 
daughter,  who  is  now  without  father  or  mother;  she  has 
never  had  a  brother  or  sister.  I  wrote  to  her  immediately 
on  receiving  the  intimation,  and  I  have  this  morning  a  full 
letter  in  reply  from  her  aunt,  my  friend  Mrs.  Duke,  also 
one  of  my  Row  friends,  and  whose  abiding  sense  of  the 
value  of  what  she  learned  at  Row  is  naturally  expressed  in 
telling  how  what  he  had  learned  there  had  been  to  him 
"  a  beginning  of  confidence  held  firm  unto  the  end." 

It  is  seasonable  comfort  to  me  to  receive  this  letter  just 
as  I  am  setting  my  face  steadfastly  to  prepare  an  introduC' 
tion  to  a  second  edition  of  my  book  on  the  Atonement.  I 
begin  by  having  the  book  read  over  to  me  by  the  girls :  and 
this  and  what  I  know  of  the  present  time  as  to  men's 
thoughts  on  this  subject,  as  well  as  my  remembrances  of 
any  criticisms  that  have  appeared  deserving  attention,  will 
be  my  preparation  for  what  writing  I  may  feel  equal  to. 
You  ^\^ll  see  me  in  the  photograph  at  once  older  and 
stronger; — as  to  strength  for  writing,  it  remains  to  be  tested. 
In  conversation  I  feel  that  any  clearness  of  thought  I  ever 
had  remains.  We,  as  we  always  do,  enjoyed  Mr.  Duncan's 
brief  visit.  .  .  .  I  enjoy  your  memories  of  Parkhill  life, 
and  am  glad  for  all  sunny  memories  that  you  are  carrying 
on  with  you  from  youth  to  manhaod :  while  doubtless  the 
happy  experiences  of  that  youth  which  all  life  is,  the  youth 
of  our  Eternal  Life,  to  all  who  are  now  living  the  Eternal 
Life,  are  the  memories  of  time,  which  have  the  deepest 
sense  of  blessedness,  because  of  the  taste  of  eternity  which 
is  in  them. 


1 866-67.     J^A  TIONALISM  AND  S UPERSTITION.      1 6 r 

Mr.  Bonar's  last  words  a  few  moments  before  his  depar- 
ture were, — "  He  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  for 
God  is  love;"  and,  "If  a  man  love  Me,  My  Father  will  love 
him ;  and  We  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with 
him." 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  loth  December,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  do  not  doubt  that  "  Rationalism  "  is  more  vital 
at  present  than  "  Superstition  ;"  while  they  mutually  tend  to 
the  production  of  each  other ;  doubting,  when  followed  out 
to  its  extreme  possibility,  becoming  a  kind  of  argument  for 
blind  credence  as  the  only  alternative  from  painful  unrest 
(as  Newman  concludes  that,  if  God  has  intended  to  give  us 
certain  knowledge  of  Himself,  this  must  have  impUed  the  gift 
of  an  infallible  Church);  and  superstition,  when  its  extrava- 
gance becomes  extreme,  proving  too  great  a  strain  on  credu- 
lity, so  that  the  attenuated  bubble  at  last  bursts  ;  and  all  that 
has  been  held  by  a  blind  faith  passing  at  once  away,  there  is 
left,  with  the  blank  and  vacuum,  a  natural  hopelessness  as  to 
all  faith, — as  to  any  possibility  of  filling  the  void  with  any- 
thing more  real  than  what  has  just  proved  itself  to  be  nothing. 
These  are  possible  "  denouements"  of  rationahsm  and 
superstition  severally ;  but  we  know  that  they  are  only  pos- 
sible, not  usual,  or  at  all  to  be  expected  as  necessary  issues — 
in  this  life  at  least.  A  Huxley  may  hve  and  may  die  hold- 
ing that  the  only  possible  religion  now  is  the  worship  of  "  an 
unknown  and  unknowable  God ; "  a  Pascal  was  able  to  pass 
away  believing  that  the  mystery  of  transubstantiation  is  the 
third  and  final  coming  forth  of  God  to  man ;  the  presence  of 
God  in  nature  being  the  first,  the  Incarnation  the  second. 
Credulity  and  Doubt  are  germs,  each  having  its  own  proper 
development — growing  by  what  they  feed  on.  We  know 
that  they  are  not  to  go  on  living  and  expanding  for  ever ;  for 
VOL.  n.  L 


i62  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

"  every  plant  which  my  Heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted, 
shall  be  rooted  up  ; "  but  as  forms  of  individual  thought  and 
feeling  they  are  seen  lasting  this  life  out ;  while,  as  living  on 
from  generation  to  generation,  they  seem  destined  to  live  on 
till  the  harvest. 

To  believe  on  grounds  which  do  not  justify  faith,  to 
doubt  when  what  should  command  faith  is  present  to  the 
mind, — these  are  alike  wrong  conditions  to  be  in;  and  in 
their  measure,  whatever  that  measure  may  be,  do  violence 
to  the  truth  of  things,  and  are  a  resistance  to  a  true  and  real 
divine  pressure  on  the  spirit.  God,  whose  purpose  is  resisted, 
is  alone  the  judge  of  the  sin  involved.  Our  Lord  prayed, 
"  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
That  they  knew  not  Avhat  they  did  made  the  prayer  one  in 
which  there  was  hope,  and  for  which  therefore  there  was 
room  :  while  that  they  needed  forgiveness  implied  blame- 
worthiness, guilt,  in  their  ignorance,  ^^f  thine  eye  be  single, 
thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light."  Knowing  how  unfit  we 
are  to  trace,  either  in  the  case  of  credulity  or  unreasonable 
doubt,  the  path  of  other  minds,  and  how  little  we  set  our- 
selves to  seek  fitness  to  help  others  by  acting  on  our  Lord's 
directions  in  this  matter — i.e.,  "  First  cast  out  the  beam  out  of 
thine  own  eye" — knowing  this,  I  am  jealous  over  myself  as 
to  my  thoughts  of  all  individual  cases  :  but  in  the  abstract, 
and  in  reference  to  the  divine  constitution  of  humanity  and 
our  responsibilities  towards  God,  I  have  no  doubt  that  faith 
is  reasonable,  and  credulity  and  doubt  alike  unreasonable. 
This,  of  course,  is  implied  in  the  existence  of  truth,  and  the 
existence  in  man  of  a  capacity  of  knowing  truth.  If,  then, 
credulity  and  scepticism  are  alike  unreasonable,  and  imply 
some  unfaithfulness  to  conscience,  and  shutting  out  of  light, 
there  is  always  the  hope  that  at  any  time  the  true  demand  of 
conscience  may  be  responded  to,  and  the  authority  of  the 
light  be  recognized,  and  the  man  become  reasonable  in  the 
matter  in  which  he  was  unreasonable;  and  this  in  small 


1866-67.  "  HONEST  DOUBT."  163 

measures  at  a  time,  and  gradually, — or,  it  may  be,  by  some 
great  coming  to  one's  self,  and  sudden  and  full  understand- 
ing of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  truth  which  had  been  shut 
out. 

In  this  world  of  darkness  and  confusions,  in  which  the 
light  is  shining  uncomprehended,  or  but  partially  compre- 
hended when  comprehended  in  measure,  there  are  many 
qualifying  circumstances  always  affecting  the  blame-worthi- 
ness of  credulity  and  of  doubt,  which  those  who  are  most 
saved  from  both  errors  will  most  allow  for.  But  the  tender- 
ness, the  patience,  and  that  absence  of  self-righteous  con- 
gratulation, which  mark  the  true  scholar  in  the  school  of 
truth,  who  is  patiently  digging  for  wisdom  as  for  hidden 
treasure,  are  as  much  a  contrast  to  the  pride  of  doubt  as  they 
are  to  the  pride  of  dogmatism;  and  it  is  certain  that  as  blind 
credence  is  sometimes  held  a  merit,  so  may  doubt  also. 
There  are  more  senses  than  one  in  which  the  assertion  may 
be  true  that  "  there  is  more  faith  in  honest  doubt  than  in 
half  the  creeds."  But  these  are  words  easily  perverted;  and 
which  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  seen  perverted.  Certain 
it  is  that  the  true  faith  which  may  underlie  honest  doubt,  and 
be  its  source,  is  safest  and  most  hopeful  when  its  comfort  is 
limited  to  its  own  inherent  witness  of  Tightness  towards 
God  ;  and  that  it  has  its  greatest  danger — its  greatest  temp- 
tation— on  the  side  of  self-valuing  because  of  its  "  honest 
doubt." 

As  to  Luther's  exercise  of  freedom  on  the  subject  of  the 
canon  of  Scripture,  it  is  of  course  one  thing  to  sift  the  evi- 
dence on  which  any  portion  of  Scripture  is  received  as  canoni- 
cal, and  quite  another  thing  to  ask  to  what  obedience  of 
faith  it  is  entitled,  being  so  received.  The  former  is  a  ques- 
tion of  pure  historical  criticism ;  the  latter  a  question  of  the 
nature  of  inspiration ;  or,  it  may  be,  of  the  existence  of  such 
a  thing  as  a  revelation.  On  this  latter  question  Luther  and 
the  Reformers  all  (so  far  as  I  know)  were  of  one  mind;  and 


T  64  MEMORIALS.  CHAP.  xii. 

that  mind  was  also  the  mind  of  the  Church  of  Rome  :  only 
that  to  the  authority  of  Scripture  as  a  divine  revelation  the 
Church  of  Rome  added  an  authority  of  the  Church  as  inter- 
preting that  revelation. 

Luther's  nearest  approach  to  "  Rationalism  "  was  in  his 
calling  in  question  the  canonicity  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  James 
on  the  groMid  of  its  teaching  on  the  subject  of  faith  and 
works ;  but  this  rather  as  taking  what  seemed  to  him  the 
teaching  of  St.  James  to  the  light  of  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul 
(as  he  understood  it),  and,  in  seeing  them  as  he  thought  con- 
tradictory, rejecting  the  one  to  hold  the  other.  ...  I 
have  indeed  no  doubt  that  his  ultimate  ground  of  confi- 
dence in  choosing  what  he  understood  to  be  the  one  teach- 
ing, rather  than  what  he  understood  to  be  the  other,  was  the 
light  of  justification  by  faith  in  which  he  felt  himself  to  be. 
But  I  do  not  know  how  far  he  would  stand  upon  the  simple 
authority  of  light  as  light,  or  that  he  could  make  any  approach 
to  saying  that  he  believed  St.  Paul  because  of  what  he 
taught,  and  not  what  he  taught  because  of  the  authority 
which  he  had  to  teach  it.  I  do  not  think  that  he  would  say 
this,  however  near  the  true  condition  of  his  mind  such  a 
statement  would  be.  That  at  least  the  exceeding  confidence 
which  pervades  his  teaching  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians, 
is  as  much  to  be  traced  to  this  feeling  of  seeing  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  to  his  faith  in  the  infalli- 
bility of  Scripture,  I  have  however  no  doubt. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Partick,  i6th  December,  1866. 

.  .  .  I  have  just  read  the  charge  of  the  Bishop  of 
London,  with  which  I  am  much  pleased.  The  time  is  very 
difiicult  for  a  bishop.  His  steering  of  the  ship  of  the 
church  has  not  only  a  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  but  some 
quicksands,  besides  the  rock  and  the  whirlpool,  to  render  it 


1866-67.  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  165 

difficult ;  for  it  is  the  "  problem  of  three  bodies," — High 
Church,  Low  Church,  Broad  Church.  I  have  much  sym- 
pathy with  him,  both  in  his  long-suffering  toleration  and  in 
the  condemnations  which  he  combines  with  it.  To  have 
decided  convictions,  and  yet  not  be  intolerant,  is  always 
difficult :  only,  in  proportion  as  our  decided  convictions  are 
deep  and  what  we  feel  that  God  has  taught  us,  we  can 
enter  into  His  long-suffering,  and  pray  for  and  hope  for  His 
teaching  of  others,  without  being  tempted  to  triumph  over 
them ;  for  in  this  respect  the  grateful  sense  of  God's  teaching 
is  altogether  different  from  the  confidence  in  one's  own 
judgment,  and  self-congratulation  on  our  own  talent,  which 
able  controversialists  so  often  feel. 

I  am  thankful  for  these  testimonies  to  your  father's  book, 
and  indications  of  interest  in  it,  which  are  meeting  you 
from  time  to  time.  [After  mentioning  that  he  was  having 
the  book  read  aloud  to  him  with  a  view  to  a  second  edition :] 
At  first  I  began  to  question  how  far  it  would  have  been 
better  to  have  proceeded  at  once  to  the  positive  setting 
forth  of  my  own  view,  instead  of  so  minute  a  preliminary 
analysis  of  what  has  been  taught ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that 
the  usefulness  of  the  book  to  many  has  been  greatly  the 
consequence  of  the  understanding  of  the  previous  stand- 
point which  it  manifests. 

However  one  large  class  of  persons  to  whom  I  would 
desire  to  be  useful — I  mean  the  Broad-Churchmen — will 
have  felt  these  three  chapters,  the  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th,  super- 
fluous ;  dealing,  as  they  do,  with  views  with  which  they  have 
no  temptation  to  sympathy.  Another  class  to  whom,  if 
they  would  listen,  I  would  like  to  speak  of  the  Atonement, 
and  whom  the  3rd  and  4th  chapters  at  least  will  have  no 
interest,  is  the  High  Church  or  Ritualistic  men:  as  to  whom 
I  feel  that  their  whole  system  of  worship,  as  well  as  the 
faith  of  the  actual  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  our 
Lord   in   the    Eucharistic    elements   which   underlies   that 


1 66  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xil 

system  (actual  presence,  whether  called  transubstantiation 
or  consubstantiation),  would  be  seen  to  be  delusive  and 
delusion  in  the  true  light  of  the  Atonement. 

9th  January,  1867, 

I  shall  begin  with  what  has  given  me  no  small  comfort, 
viz.,  your  conscious  response  to  what  I  write  in  the  books 
which  I  have  written,  and  to  the  record  of  my  Row  teaching 
in  the  notes  of  sermons ;  which,  though  but  notes,  leave,  I 
think,  no  part  of  the  argument  out, — nothing  obscure  from 
omissions, — although,  as  to  style,  with  undesirable  traces  of 
their  extempore  origin.  But  mere  style  is  of  comparatively 
little  consequence.  I  more  regret  a  certain  controversial 
tone,  which  was  perhaps  inevitable  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  I  was  teaching :  yet  T  think,  could  I  have  seen  by 
simple  intelligent  intuition  what  I  have  since  the  Row  days 
learned  by  experience,  I  would  have  trusted  more  to  the 
power  of  the  truth  simply  set  forth,  leaving  //  to  suggest 
answers  to  objections ;  which  it  would  be  sure  to  do  in  the 
minds  of  any  really  receiving  it. 

Another  thing  I  always  feel  in  reading  any  of  these  Row 
sermons  is,  that  I  may  have  erred  in  allowing  the  impression 
to  be  received  that  what  is  the  ideal  of  Christianity  must  be 
attained;  otherwise  that  there  is  no  Christianity  present. 
This  certainly  was  never  my  meaning.  But  I  so  realized 
both  the  peace-giving  power  of  the  Gospel,  if  truly  under- 
stood and  accepted  in  faith,  and  also  the  self-delusion  in 
which  men  were  satisfied  with  their  own  faith,  yet  were  not 
having  peace  with  God ;  and  who  therefore,  if  awakened  to 
the  consciousness  that  they  had  not  peace  with  God,  sought 
that  peace  not  from  the  supply  of  what  was  lacking  in  their 
faith — a  lack  of  which  they  had  no  conception — but  from 
increased  religious  activity  : — all  this  in  the  state  of  mind  of 
my  hearers  I  so  realized  that  I  so  urged  assurance  as  an 
essential  quality  of  faith  as  to  give  the  impression  often  that 


1866-67.  THE  ROW  TEACHING.  167 

1  recognized  no  reality  of  divine  teaching  short  of  this 
result.  In  Christ  the  apostle  teaches  that  nothing  avails 
but  faith  which  worketh  by  love.  This  I  saw  most  clearly. 
But  my  people  were  not  seeing  it.  They  were  having, 
instead  of  the  faith  which  the  Apostle  contemplated,  certain 
vague  general  persuasions  about  Christ  which  never  could 
work  by  love,  because  no  love  embracing  the  individual  was 
their  object.  I  therefore  urged,  "  Your  faith  is  not  the  faith 
which  worketh  by  love,  because  it  is  not  a  faith  which 
apprehends  love." 

I  say,  beloved  son,  that  I  am  most  thankful  that  you  feel 
my  teaching  having  a  response  in  your  own  mind,  and  see 
that  it  must  be  true.  What  remains  but  what  these  words 
call  for,  "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them"  ? 

To  Mr.  Erskine  : 

After  tlie  death  of  his  Sister,  Mrs.  Stirling. 

Laurel  Bank,  13th  January,  1867. 

My  very  dear  Friend, — I  think  I  have  been  knowing 
what  this  bereavement  is  to  you;  and  I  have  been  sym- 
pathizing with  you,  and  seeking  to  help  you.  I  remember 
when  I  used  to  feel  that  the  first  and  great  commandment, 
in  asking  for  so  entire  a  devotion  of  our  whole  capacity  of 
love,  was  a  promise  that,  being  responded  to,  it  would  leave 
no  void  in  us.  Therefore  that  all  sense  of  void  was  so  far  a 
rebuke, — the  rebuke  due  because  our  God  was  not  to  us  all 
that  His  love  willed  that  He  should  be  to  us. 

In  proportion  as  I  have  come  to  see  the  oneness  of  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel,  I  have  come  to  feel  a  patience, — I 
trust  not  unholy, — with  myself  and  others  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  distance  between  what  we  attain  to  and  the 
divine  ideal  for  us.  But,  besides,  I  think  I  have  come  to 
see  that  there  is  no  real  contradiction  (though  a  seeming 


1 68  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

contradiction)  between  being  able  to  say,  "Whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  thee?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  I  desire 
beside  thee,"  and  feehng  what  I  think  of  you  as  now  feeUng 
of  loneliness  and  void  because  of  your  beloved  sister's 
removal. 

May  you  be  enabled  to  please  God  under  this  trial  and  in 
all  things  !  Mrs.  Campbell  has  you  and  your  loss  much  on 
her  heart. — Your  very  affectionate  friend, 

John  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  January,  1867. 

I  am  very  glad  to  have  a  few  words  of  kindly  greeting 
from  you ;  and  to  respond  to  them.  I  would  have  done  so 
at  once,  but  have  been  hindered  ; — hindered  by  the  only  in- 
disposition that  I  have  had  this  winter ;  and  it  has  passed 
away.  The  excessive  cold  has  kept  me  much  a  prisoner, 
but  not  hurt  me  beyond  this  until  now.  We  are  well  as  a 
family. 

I  suppose  I  may  understand  as  a  good  report  of  both  your 
healths,  as  well  as  of  other  things,  your  saying  that  every 
thing  has  been  going  on  with  you  quietly  and  well.  I  am 
very  thankful  for  every  encouragement  which  you  have  in 
your  work  as  a  minister.     You  are  often  in  my  thoughts. 

I  have  the  Bishop  of  London's  charge,  but  not  Dr.  Thirl- 
wall's.  I  have  just  read  his  (Dr.  T.'s)  paper  on  literature 
and  science ;  which  deals  with  a  present  attitude  of  science 
wisely,  I  think,  so  far  as  he  goes ;  but  I  long  to  see  some 
more  definite  tracing  of  the  necessary  limits  of  science  than 
I  have  yet  met.  I  have  some  sym.pathy  with  the  unwilling- 
ness felt  to  represent  science  and  religion  as  antagonistic. 
Their  walks  are  distinct,  and  their  lines  also  necessarily 
parallel ; — parallel,  but  not  strictly  converging ;  for  science 
cannot  attain  to  God.     Being  parallel,  we  may  well  be  con- 


1866-67.  THE  LIMITS  OF  SCIENCE.  169 

tented  that  men  of  science  should  move  freely  in  their  own 
path.  But  such  conclusions  from  science  as  Huxley  has 
ventured  to  assert  as  reached, — as  that  "  now  no  religion  is 
possible  but  the  worship  of  an  unknown  and  unknowable 
God," — are  a  stepping  over  into  our  path,  and  challenge  an 
encounter. 

I  would  read  with  interest  any  sound  extension  of  the 
principle  of  Bishop  Butler's  argument :  while  I  feel  that  there 
is  some  force  in  the  objection,  that  to  find  parallels  to  the 
difficulties  of  Revelation  in  nature  is  so  far  unsatisfactory, 
that  Revelation  might  be  expected  to  remove  the  difficulties 
of  nature.  But — apart  from  this  (to  which  the  answer  must 
be  found  in  the  character  of  the  difficulties  in  question,  and 
the  reasonableness  of  expecting  Revelation  to  leave  them 
still  difficulties) — what  we  have  regarded  as  the  most  distinct 
voice  of  nature,  while  also  the  testimony  of  Revelation,  is 
what  we  are  now  asked  to  treat  as  an  echo  of  our  own 
thoughts. 

.  .  .  One  thing  which  we  soon  learn,  in  close  dealing 
with  other  spirits,  is  our  powerlessness ;  out  of  the  sense 
of  which  comes  patience  in  our  seeking  to  be  connected 
with  the  progress  of  that  kingdom  of  God  which  is  within 
men.  One  once  said  to  me,  "  It  is  a  solemn  thing  to  touch 
a  spirit  which  God  is  touching."  Yet  that  He  is  touching 
it  is  our  hope  in  touching  it;  while  that  we  are  without, 
while  He  is  within,  requires  that  we  be  contented  in  a  neces- 
sary ignorance  as  to  how  far  our  touch  works  with  His  as  we 
would  wish ;  and  that  we  patiently  work  on  in  hope  though 
in  uncertainty. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  2Sth  January,  1867. 

[After  speaking  of  "the  difficulty  which  some  men  of 
science  seem  to  themselves  to  find  in  harmonizing  science 
with  faith  in  God,"  he  continues : — ] 


lyo 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 


As  long  as  science  claims  to  do  no  more  than  to  extend 
our  knowledge  of  nature  as  it  is, — so  both  enlarging  our 
vision  and  increasing  our  power, — it  occupies  a  sphere  its 
right  to  which  is  undeniable,  and  its  use  of  which  is  most 
beneficial.  But  another  and  much  higher  function  is  now 
claimed  for  science ;  and  it  not  only  pronounces  that  such 
and  such  facts  are,  but  that  it  so  knows  all  that  can  be  known 
about  them  as  that  it  can  declare  what  is  compatible  with 
them  ;  and  not  only  this,  but  that  it  can  prophecy  what  must 
be  from  what  is ;  as  if  it  knew  why  what  is,  is,  or  knew  a 
necessity  for  its  continuing  to  be,  and  an  impossibility  of 
anything  else  taking  its  place.  In  this  it  seems  to  me  to  go 
beyond  its  measure  in  its  own  proper  region ;  and  to  pass 
from  its  proper  function  oi  observation  of  what  is  to  ojitological 
questions  as  to  the  ultimate  nature  of  what  is. 

But  not  only  does  science,  speaking  by  some  men  of 
science,  claim  to  know  in  its  own  region  what  it  does  not 
seem  given  to  it  to  know,  but — what  I  venture  to  deal  with 
more  boldly — it  passes  into  regions  altogether  distinct  from 
its  own,  and  where  it  can  see  nothing.  I  believe  that  the 
man  who  says,  "  It  is  now  ascertained  that  God  is  unknown 
and  unknowable," — a  conclusion  which  renders  all  out-going 
of  thought  or  heart  towards  God  as  impossible  as  would  the 
conclusion  that  there  is  no  God, — is  saying  what,  if  I  knew 
all  his  premises  of  facts,  I  would  be  able  to  see  to  be  an  in- 
tellectual error,  and  the  drawing  of  illogical  conclusions :  but 
my  confidence  in  saying  this  is  altogether  apart  from,  and 
independent  of,  any  perception  of  flaw  in  his  reasoning. 
That  confidence  rests  on  the  grounds  on  which  rests  my  faith 
in  the  opposite  of  his  conclusion.  If  I  have  sure  grounds 
for  saying  that  God  is  knowable  and  that  I  know  Him,  I 
must  believe  that  his  conclusion  in  contradiction  of  this  is 
erroneous,  however  ignorant  I  may  be  of  the  whole  subject 
of  his  science  and  his  conclusions  from  it. 

As  I  am  an  intellectual  being  I  arii  capable  of  science ;  as 


1866-67.  FAITH  AND  KNOWLEDGE.  171 

I  am  a  moral  and  spiritual  being  I  am  capable  of  moral  and 
spiritual  knowledge.  My  intellect,  my  moral  nature,  and  my 
spiritual  nature,  have  all  their  several  parts  in  my  faith  in 
God  ;  their  voices  are  one  to  me.  But,  of  the  three  elements, 
in  this  one  voice,  the  two  latter  contribute  most  to  my  faith. 
If,  then,  the  scientific  man's  use  of  intellect  were  to  cause  to 
me  a  difticulty  (which  it  does  not),  he  would  still  leave  to 
me  untouched  the  great  substance  of  my  faith.  But,  not  to 
dwell  on  this,  let  me  say,  that  my  consciousness  as  an  intel- 
ligent being  qualifies  me  for  the  conception  of  an  intelligent 
First  Cause  of  all  things,  and  at  the  same  time  necessitates 
the  faith  that  accords  with  this  conception  ;  and,  in  like 
manner,  that  my  moral  consciousness  and  my  spiritual  con- 
sciousness qualify  me  for  the  conception  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  elements  which  enter  into  my  idea  of  God,  and  also 
necessitate  the  corresponding  elements  in  my  faith. 

You  know  that  I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  inversion  which 
has  been  suggested  on  this  subject;  and  how  some  refuse  to 
receive  our  own  consciousness  as  to  the  manner  of  our  own 
being  as  any  revelation  of  God.  To  realize  what  I  am,  and 
to  take  what  I  am  to  the  light  of  the  ideal  of  God  which  I 
have,  and  to  say  to  myself,  that  what  thus  looks  down  on  me 
from  an  infinite  height  above  me,  and  separates  the  precious- 
from  the  vile  in  me,  and  claims  the  former  as  of  and  from 
itself,  is  "a  shadow  of  myself  projected  by  my  own  mind  on 
the  Infinite  Void,"  is  to  me  simply  impossible :  at  least  as 
impossible  as  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  consciousness  which 
so  connects  the  present  with  the  past  as  to  give  me  the  sense 
of  personal  identity,  or  the  trust-worthiness  of  the  report  of 
my  senses  as  to  the  existence  of  other  persons,  and  of  an 
external  world. 

I  give  a  higher  place  to  moral  and  spiritual  consciousness 
than  to  the  consciousness  of  intelligence  in  the  matter  of 
faith  in  God,  I  think  because  I  include  in  faith  feeling  to- 
wards God,  moral  appreciation  and  trust,  and  indeed  filial 


172  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

response  of  heart.  Yet  I  know  that  there  is  this  difference 
that  I,  an  intelHgent  being,  cannot  think  of  my  ideal  of  an 
Infinite  IntelHgence  as  a  mere  ideal  in  my  own  mind  to  which 
no  existent  reality  corresponds ;  for  I  am  encompassed  with 
what  present  themselves  to  me  as  fruits  of  the  working  of 
such  an  intelligence.  But  it  is  otherwise  with  the  elements 
of  character  which  I  ascribe  to  God.  I  may  say  that  I  see 
things  in  this  world  of  which  I  feel  myself  a  part,  which  indi- 
cate moral  attributes  as  existing  in  God  as  well  as  intelli- 
gence and  power ;  but  apart  from  the  ideal  suggested  within 
me,  these  intimations  around  me  would  not  so  speak  to  me 
of  infinite  goodness,  infinite  love,  as  the  system  of  nature 
does  of  infinite  wisdom  and  infinite  power.  But,  though  in 
this  view  the  ideal  of  God  as  the  Father  of  spirits  is  not  illus- 
trated objectively  so  clearly  as  that  of  God  as  the  Creator 
and  upholder  of  the  universe  is  ;  yet  does  it  by  its  own  in- 
herent light, — felt  as  the  conception  of  it  is  realized, — claim 
faith  with  what  is  to  me  irresistible  authority  : — while  in 
Christ  it  has  become  objective,  and  is  presented  to  our  minds, 
not  as  an  ideal  love  not  seen  acted  out,  but  as  love  acted 
out ;  and  so  acted  out  as  to  purify  and  perfect  that  ideal  in 
us  to  which  that  acting  out  commends  itself 

Now,  my  beloved  Donald,  I  shall  stop.  Of  course  I  have 
many  thoughts  that  branch  out  from  these ;  but  I  must  leave 
them  to  suggest  themselves ;  and  may  they  all  mingle  profit- 
ably with  your  own  thoughts. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  7tli  March,  1867. 
.     ,     .     I  read  Fischer  on  Bacon  ^  all  through ;  and  I 
have  now  got  all  I  could  get  out  of  Ferrier's  first  volume, 
.and  a  paper  on  Aristotle  by  Green,  and  one  on  Plato  by 

^  "Francis  Bacon:  Realistic  Philosophy  and  its  Age.  By  Kuno 
Fischer.     Translated  by  John  Oxenford." 


1866-67.  FISCHER  ON  BACON.  173 

Caird,  and  one  on  Coleridge  by  Shairp ; — all  in  the  North 
British.  I  think  I  understand  the  problems  of  "  Knowing 
and  Being  "  (as  Ferrier  speaks)  as  Kant  had  them  presented 
to  him.  His  solution  of  them  I  have  yet  to  learn.  Some- 
thing of  this  met  me  in  Shairp's  paper  on  Coleridge.  But 
Green's  paper  especially,  and  Caird's  also,  in  some  degree, 
— both  post-Hegelian, — seem  to  imply  results  as  to  "  Being  " 
as  reached  by  Hegel,  which,  if  due  developments  of  Kant- 
ism,  imply  links  of  thought  of  which  I  have  yet  no  glimpse. 
The  great  question,  as  Bacon  and  Descartes  took  it  up, 
and  as  to  which  their  views  diverge,  was  the  relative  part  of 
mind  and  matter  in  the  history  of  our  intelligent  conscious 
existence.  Bacon  seems  to  have  bade  us  ''^ look  out ;"  and 
exclusive  attention  to  this  word  has  issued  in  the  recognition 
of  little  more  "within"  than  a  receptivity  like  that  of  a 
looking-glass.  I  cannot  now  recal  the  successive  steps  from 
Bacon  to  Hume,  through  Hobbes,  Berkeley,  and  Locke  ; 
nor  how  an  idealism  such  as  Berkeley  reached  was  a  fruit 
on  the  same  tree  with  the  materialism  of  what  Fischer  calls 
the  "  French  enlightenment."  But  if  you  have  got  his  book, 
I  hope  your  young  memory  will  serve  you  better  than  my 
old  memory  is  serving  me.  I  know,  however,  that  he 
carried  me  along  with  him.  As  to  the  other  school,  which 
has  thought,  I  believe,  more  tvorthily  of  what  the  mind 
brings  to  the  task  of  looking  out  on  what  surrounds  it, — as 
well  as  looking  in  on  itself, — I  do  not  see  steps  marked 
with  equal  distinctness.  But  Fischer  has  not  done  for 
Descartes  (at  least  not  in  the  volume  which  I  have  read) 
what  he  has  done  for  Bacon ;  and,  to  go  back  to  the  first 
beginning,  i.e.,  to  Plato,  I  find  it  difficult  to  pass  from  his 
"  Ideas "  to  that  something  which  the  mind  furnishes  in 
advancing  from  sejisation  to  perception, — from  passive  feeling 
to  active  judgment  in  relation  to  what  is  felt.  Whether  it  is 
more  correct  to  say,  that  the  mind  takes  its  sensations  to 
the  light  of  pre-existing  ideas,  or  that  it  has  simply  a  faculty 


174  MEMORIALS,  chap.  xii. 

of  forming  ideas  by  comparison  of  sensations  :  this  seems 
the  question.  I  do  not  suppose  that  such  an  existence  for 
generic  ideas  as  impHes  a  consciousness  of  them,  antecedent  to 
the  sensations  which  connect  themselves  with  them,  is  held 
by  any.  Even  Plato's  making  acquisition  of  knowledge 
only  "  an  awakening  of  memory  "  does  not  carry  conscious- 
ness back  beyond  such  an  awakening ;  and  tliat  is  caused 
from  without.  But  what  I  have  always  felt  to  be  the  strong- 
hold of  Idealism  is  the  large  and  most  important  part  of  all 
we  know — even  all  that  is  moral  and  spiritual — which  does 
not  admit  of  being  resolved  into  a  working  of  intellect  in 
sensation.  This  is  the  region  of  which  Coleridge  speaks  as 
the  "  Reason,"  as  distinct  from,  and  higher  than,  the 
"  Understanding  : "  and  the  recognition  of  this  region,  with 
this  distinction,  I  suppose  is  one  aspect  of  what  Kant  has 
done  to  cause  to  flow  in  one  channel  the  two  streams 
of  which  Bacon  and  Descartes  were  severally  the  fountains ; 
granting  to  "  Sensationalists "  all  that  was  logically  due  in 
marking  the  action  of  the  understanding  on  the  materials 
furnished  by  sensation,  and  giving  to  "Idealists,"  as  the 
mind's  own  proper  endowment,  apart  from  matter  and 
sensation,  what  belongs  to  the  pure  reason.  If,  however, 
this  is  so,  I  am  all  the  more  difhculted  to  pass  by  any 
stepping-stones  yet  visible  to  me  from  Kant  to  Hegel. 
But  as  I  suppose  I  have  a  living  Hegel  in  Caird,  I  shall 
apply  to  him  for  light  here;  as  I  now  know  what  I  need 
light  on. 

2nd  April,  1867. 

[After  referring  to  Fischer's  book  on  Kant :]  There 
is  no  refusing  the  concession  that  what  things  are  to 
us  is  the  result  of  what  we  are,  as  well  as  of  what  they 
are.  But  if  what  we  take  to  the  work  of  cognition  be 
not  deceptive,  the  result  should  be  sound  knowledge. 
One  line  of  thought  that  I  would  like  to  pursue  to  what 


1866-6;.  QUESTIONS  IN  PHILOSOPHY.  175 

seem  its  legitimate  results,  is  the  consideration  of  what  we 
know  of  the  action  of  external  bodies  on  each  other. 
Applied  Mathematics  appear  to  me  to  infuse  a  mathematical 
element  of  certainty  into  the  facts  of  the  external  world  to 
which  we  apply  them. 

When  I  consider  the  intervention  of  ether  and  its  waves 
between  me  and  what  I  see,  I  have  no  difficulty  in  thinking 
of  what  is  producing  waves  in  ether  as  what  is  acting  in  a 
way  that  colour  does  not  tell  me ;  nor  can  I  say  to  myself 
that  this  action  is  like  colour : — yet  that  it  is  producing  the 
sensation  of  colour  according  to  fixed  laws,  which  would 
determine  reflection  from  one  mirror  to  another,  or  from  a 
convex  mirror  would  throw  an  image  into  empty  space,  &c., 
— all  this  in  ways  to  which  mathematical  demonstration 
applies; — this  is  a  series  of  processes  not  the  result  of  any- 
thing that  my  mind  contributes ;  which  seems  to  force  on 
me  the  conclusion  that  I  do  not  contribute  what  makes  a 
phenomenon,  but  only  what  enables  me  to  apprehend  it 
intelligently. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

Laurel  Bank,  29th  March,  1867. 

My  dear  Bishop, — I  have  two  kind  notes  to  thank  you 
for,  and  your  kind  wish  to  hear  from  me  to  respond  to: 
which  I  have  done,  I  assure  you,  in  feeling  all  this  time : 
but  your  suggestion  of  a  topic  on  which  to  write  has,  I  be- 
lieve, really  been  the  cause  of  my  delaying  to  write  so  long. 

But  I  am  not  able  to  v/rite  to  my  own  satisfaction, — and 
would  not  therefore  expect  to  be  doing  so  to  yours, — on 
that  great  question  now  occupying,  I  believe,  many 
thoughtful  minds.  My  own  rest  is  rather  in  the  contented 
realization  that  there  are  limits  (such  as  you  ask  me  to 
attempt  to  trace)  than  in  the  consciousness  of  being  defining 
these  limits  to  my  own  mind.     The  physical,  the  meta- 


176  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

physical,  and  the  spiritual,  are  to  me  three  regions  in  each  of 
which  I  have  some  feeling  of  knowing  where  I  am, — while 
I  keep,  so  to  speak,  in  its  centre,  and  when  it  itself  bounds 
my  horizon.  But  if  I  attempt  to  ascend  to  a  point  above 
them,  from  which  an  extended  horizon  will  encircle  them 
all,  and  from  which  I  may  see  ih&fities  which  mark  off  each 
and  define  it,  I  seem  not  to  have  yet  wings  with  which  so  to 
soar. 

I  sent  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's  paper,  which  you  sent  to 
me,  to  Sir  William  Thomson;  and  I  called  on  him  some 
time  afterwards :  but  he  had  not  had  time  to  read  it.  I 
found  him  full  of  what  seemed  to  himself  a  new  light  as  to 
the  "  form  of  motion,"  the  assumption  of  which,  as  in  the 
ultimate  molecules  of  matter,  would  {if  I  understood  him) 
secure  their  indestructibility  in  reference  to  each  other. 
But  he  was  not  conceiving  of  it  as  what  must  have  been 
from  Eternity,  and  therefore  must  be  to  Eternity.  On  the 
contrary,  he  was  conceiving  of  it  as  what  must  have  been 
originally  caused  by  a  Will,  and  what  therefore  the  same 
Will  might,  at  any  time,  cause  to  cease  to  be.  This  talk 
with  Sir  William  has  been  my  only  visit  to  the  region  of 
physics  since  I  saw  you.  Metaphysics  have  been  occupying 
me  more  than  they  have  done  for  many  a  day;  circumstances 
leading  me  to  read  Professor  Ferrier  of  St.  Andrews' 
volumes,  edited  by  Professor  Lushington ;  and  a  history  of 
the  Baconian  philosophy,  translated  from  the  German, 
tracing  it  down  through  Hobbes,  Locke,  Berkeley,  Hume, 
to  Kant's  taking  up  of  Hume's  sceptical  attitude,  and  setting 
himself  to  solve  his  unsolved  problem.  And  now  I  am 
reading  a  work  on  Kant's  own  Critique  of  the  Pure  Eeason, 
by  the  same  man,  Fischer  of  Heidelberg.  I  find  Kant's 
language  difficult ;  partly  because  of  his  use  of  words  new  to 
me,  partly  because  of  a  new  use  of  old  words :  but  the 
thought  itself  is  also  new  to  me,  and  my  apprehension  of  it 
yet  hazy. 


1 866-67.  MANS  ELS  METAPHYSICS.  177 

I  am  not  sure  if  I  am  justified  in  occupying  myself 
with  what  is  so  much  away  from  7ny  proper  thinking.  But, 
like  physics,  metaphysics  are  at  present  a  form  of  "the 
trial  of  our  faith ; "  and,  although  my  peace  and  comfort  in 
what  I  believe  are  in  no  measure  contingent  on  my  ability 
to  dispose  of  difficulties  in  this  region,  or  in  any  region 
■Sistinct  from  the  moral  and  spiritual,  yet  my  mind  naturally 
seeks  a  full-orbed  vision, — the  apprehension  of  the  harmony 
of  all  lower  truth  with  the  highest.  I  ought  to  be — and  am 
— thankful  that  having  this  desire  so  strong  in  me,  I  yet  am 
able  to  welcome  light  in  that  highest  region,  being 
"  obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,"  whatever  darkness  else- 
where may  remain. 

Among  other  metaphysical  writings  I  have  been  reading 
Mansel's  Metaphysics ;  and  I  think  the  result  is  more 
indulgence  for  the  lectures  of  his  which  hurt  (grieved,  I 
mean)  me  so  much  many  years  ago,  and  which  drew  from 
Mr.  Maurice  his  What  is  Revelation  ?  I  see  his  language 
about  the  "absolute"  and  "unconditioned"  is  almost 
technical  language,  and  his  idea  of  "regulative  truth"  not 
necessarily  the  expression  of  such  a  positive  holding  that 
"we  cannot  know  God,"  or — which  is  the  same — cannot 
know  that  we  know  Him,  as  it  seemed  to  me  to  be. 
Nevertheless  I  still  regret  his  state  of  mind  on  the  subject ; 
for  it  does  not  savour  of  the  possession  of  light :  though  it 
may  be  used  in  as  near  an  approach  to  conscious  light  as 
contents  many. 

Our  dear  friend,  Mr.  Erskine,  has  his  other  sister  taken 
from  him,  dear  Mrs.  Paterson.  I  do  not  think  that  you 
knew  her  at  all  as  you  knew  Mrs.  Stirling.  But  you  have 
seen  her.  She  was  an  old  and  dear  friend  of  mine ;  and 
while  I  feel  her  death  most  in  sympathy  with  him  and  her 
own  home  circle,  I  feel  that  her  removal  causes  a  great 
blank  to  myself  There  was  much  of  the  triumph  of  Faith, 
and  Hope,  and  Love  in  her  death;  and  in  the  midst  of 

VOL.  II.  M 


1^8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

much  weakness  and  much  suffering  she  was  enabled  to  give 
such  expression  to  what  was  within,  as  has  left  most  helpful 
memories  to  those  who  were  around  her.  I  am  thankful 
that  Mr.  Erskine  is  pretty  well.  He  was  with  his  sister 
every  day,  and  was  with  her  at  these  last  words  of  life 
in  death. 

I  thought  at  one  time  that  I  might  be  in  London  this 
summer,  and  so  might  meet  you  there  again.  But  this  is  not 
now  likely,  but  we  may  meet  when  you  come  north.  Our 
education,  my  dear  Bishop,  is  going  on — slowly  or  more 
rapidly,  according  as  we  are  less  or  more  diligent  scholars. 
"  All  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God," 
and  in  the  measure  of  theh-  love  to  God. 


To  his  Niece  : 

■  After  her  Mother-in-law's  Death. 

Laurel  Bank,  26th  March,  1867. 

Dearest  Mary, — This  is  a  great  expression  of  love 
indeed,  that  you  have  written  to  me  so  fully. 

My  heart  is  very  full.  I  will  not  speak  of  my  own  share 
in  this  bereavement.  Seeing  this  beloved  friend  so  seldom, 
and  for  such  brief  interviews,  it  seems  as  if  to  me  the  blank 
left  must  be  as  nothing  in  comparison  of  what  you  are  all 
feeling  of  whose  daily  life  she  was  so  great  and  so  dear  a 
part.  But  I  have  felt  before  what  I  feel  now,  as  if  a  great 
emptying  of  this  earthly  life  had  just  taken  place.  I  felt 
this  long  ago  when  dear  Miss  Paterson  was  taken ;  again, 
when  Mrs.  Smith  was  taken;  again,  when  Miss  Stirling 
was  taken;  and  very  much  when  Mr.  Scott  was  taken. 
These,  perhaps,  have  been  the  cases  in  which  I  have 
felt  this  7nost,  when  the  blank  has  been  in  the  circle  of 
my  early  Christian  friends,  bound  to  me  by  this  one  bond. 
But  there  has  been  always  more  of  a  solemn  than  a  sad 


1866-6;.  DEATH  OF  MRS.  PATERSON.  179 

feeling  of  the  change  as  respects  myself;  while  thankfulness 
for  the  gain  to  those  taken,  and  a  feeling  of  obligation 
to  Christ  on  their  behalf,  and  of  help  to  my  own  faith  in 
their  being  added  to  the  cloud  of  witnesses, — all  these  feel- 
ings have  been  comforts,  a  gain  that  counterbalanced  the 
loss.  All  these  gains  I  know  I  shall  have  more  abun- 
dantly. 

But  what  at  present  fills  me  is  thankfulness  for  the  great 
grace  of  God  to  His  dear  child,  in  that  the  close  of  her  life  is 
such  a  crowning  mercy  to  all  His  goodness  to  her ;  and  to 
all  His  goodness  to  you  to  whom  she  has  been  so  long  so 
precious  a  living  epistle  of  the  grace  of  God. 

You  pass  before  me  one  by  one,  and  I  thank  God  for 
what  He  has  given  to  you  in  her.  First  of  all,  I  think  of 
dear  James,  her  beloved  son,  going  back  to  his  boyhood  at 
Row.  I  thank  God  for  all  he  possesses  in  his  remem- 
brance of  her,  and  of  his  precious  father  whom  I  valued 
and  loved,  all  the  help  which  he  has  in  their  love  for  faith 
in  his  heavenly  Father's  love. 

Then  I  give  thanks  for  you,  my  darling  Mary,  for  all  her 
love  to  you  and  all  that  I  believe  you  have  been  to  her. 

I  think  then  of  my  beloved  Mr.  Erskine,  and  then  of  the 
dear  children ;  and  then  of  Miss  Gourlay,  whose  nursing 
loving  care  is,  I  know,  having  a  rich  reward,  for  I  know  that 
her  love  will  esteem  it  to  have  been  all  a  high  privilege,  a 
special  favour. 

But  I  Avill  not  go  on.  I  give  thanks  for  all  the  circle  of 
near  and  dear  ones,  of  whom  there  are  so  many,  to  whom 
these  last  days  of  suffering  triumphing  will  be  so  intense,  so 
profitable  an  interest. 

My  beloved  wife  looks  back  with  deep  thankfulness  on  her 
visit  to  Morningside,  and  the  time  passed  at  her  bedside.  It 
will  ever  be  with  her  a  treasured  memory. 


t8o  memorials.  chap.  xii. 

To  Mrs.  A.  J.  Scott. 

Laurel  Bank,  26th  April,  1867. 

I  am  anxious  that  you  should  not  be  coming  under  any 
mental  burdens  which  you  can  avoid  of  the  kind  which  the 
book  of  which  you  spoke  is  to  you.  You  may  be  prepared 
to  hear  many  echoes  of  your  beloved's  voice  which  ^vill  not 
be  to  you  true  echoes,  and  you  cannot  but  feel  pain  in  hear- 
ing them.  But  I  believe  your  proper  course  is  quiet  patience. 
Leave  it  all  in  God's  hands.  His  owti  most  touching  reti- 
cence is  guidance  here.  We  cannot  feel  that  he  himself 
would  have  interfered,  or  have  attempted  to  control  the 
workings  of  minds,  who,  whatever  they  might  owe  him,  might 
exercise  their  freedom  in  a  way  that  he  might  regret.  But 
however  this  would  have  been,  no  one  can  now  do  what  he 
might  have  done  had  he  felt  called  to  do  it. 

Dear  friend,  I  know  you  will  receive  what  I  say  in  the 
same  love  in  which  I  say  it,  and  I  trust  it  may  commend 
itself  to  your  own  judgment. 

To  Mr.  Peter  Macallum. 

Laurel  Bank,  20th  April,  1867. 

I  have  found  among  my  letters  one  in  Mrs.  Smith's  hand, 
which  I  see  has  been  to  you.  You  have,  it  seems,  indulged 
me  with  a  reading  of  it ;  and  I  have  not  returned  it  at  the 
time,  and  then  forgotten  that  I  had  it.     .     .     . 

My  memory  is  often  tryingly  faithless;  but  let  me  be 
thankful  that  it  is  as  to  things  which  pass  away  that  it  fails 
me ;  not  as  to  the  things  which  abide  :  and  so,  though  this 
letter  and  its  being  lent  to  me  have  been  forgotten,  my 
memory  of  dear  Mrs.  Smith,  and  of  all  the  faith  and  hope 
and  love  for  which  I  loved  her,  remains  freshly  on  my  heart, 
— a  part  of  my  eternal  treasure.     Next  to  my  debt  to  divine 


1866-67.  FAILURE  OF  EYESIGHT.  181 

love  for  the  knowledge  of  itself^ — as  the  love  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — is  the  debt  I  owe 
for  the  love  of  the  children  of  God,  and  for  the  blessedness 
of  meeting  their  love  with  love. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Partick,  24th  June,  1867. 

You  have  by  last  mail  heard  something  about  my  eyes, 
and  I  must  now  begin  with  telling  you  exactly  how  the  mat- 
ter stands. 

The  sight  of  my  right  eye  has  been  failing  rather  rapidly ; 
so  I  went  to  Dr.  M'Kenzie,  the  oculist,  on  the  24th,  ac- 
companied by  your  mother.  Mr.  Rainy,  in  Dr.  M'Kenzie's 
absence,  examined  both  my  eyes  carefully,  and  found  catar- 
act in  both ;  but  much  more  advanced  in  the  right  eye  than 
in  the  left :  so  that  he  could  give  me  the  comfort  of  the 
prospect  that  the  left  eye  would  continue  serviceable  until 
the  right  eye  was  ripe  for  an  operation. 

This  discovery  was  altogether  unexpected.  But  the  case 
is  much  better  than  it  would  have  been  had  so  much  loss  of 
sight  been  really  decay  of  vision,  as  for  that  there  is  no 
remedy.  I  am  bade  to  use  my  eyes  sparingly,  and  not  to 
do  anything  by  gaslight.  So  I  have  others  to  read  to  me 
and  write  for  me,  and  writing,  as  now,  with  my  own  hands  is 
exceptional.  But  this  is  caution  or  precaution,  not  neces- 
sity, 

There  is  much  that  I  could  wish  to  say  to  you  in  reference 
to  your  very  new  circumstances.  But  it  all  comes  to  the 
reiteration  of  my  old  quotations,  "Have  salt  in  yourselves ;" — 
"Being  quick  to  hear,  slow  to  speak;" — "Dwelling  in  the 
secret  of  God's  presence;" — "Finding  your  hfe  in  His 
favour."  As  to  others,  considering  what  will  be  best  in 
its  influence  on  them,  not  what  will  most  commend  yourself 
to  them. 


1 82  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

The  Rouken,  2nd  August,  1867. 

I  write  a  few  lines  of  loving  greeting  for  your  birthday,  for 
which  we  are  expecting  to  be  in  time  by  this  Marseilles 
post.  My  desires  are  the  same  for  you  at  all  times,  but  the 
return  of  a  birthday  specially  and  emphatically  recals  the 
thoughts  to  the  largest  view  of  the  interests  of  the  dear  one 
whose  birthday  it  is ;  namely,  the  reason  why  it  is  good  for 
us  that  we  exist. 

Joy  that  a  child  is  born  into  the  world  is  usually  a  very 
vague  feeling,  rather  instinctive  than  intelligent.  And  as  to 
men's  ordinary  thoughts  and  ordinary  experiences  of  life, 
that  joy  is,  we  may  say,  more  than  they  are  justified  in  feel- 
ing. But  the  instinct  is  sound;  and,  in  the  light  of  His  mind 
and  purpose  for  us  who  has  implanted  that  instinct  in  us,  in- 
telligence will  seal  the  suggestion  of  instinct,  and  we  shall 
welcome  life  when  it  first  appears,  and  welcome  all  that  calls 
us  back  to  the  meditation  of  it,  as  the  gift  of  God ;  seeing 
temporal  life  as,  so  to  speak,  the  shell  of  which  eternal  life 
is  the  kernel. 

So  in  the  faith  that  God  has  given  him  eternal  life,  that 
life  which  we  have  in  the  Son  of  God,  that  life  which  is  son- 
ship,  I  greet  my  beloved  son  on  his  birthday,  now  drawing 
near. 

The  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you.  The  Lord  lift  upon 
you  the  light  of  His  countenance  and  give  you  peace. 

Partick,  9th  November,  1867. 

My  second  edition  of  the  Nature  of  the  Atonement  ^vith  an 
introductory  chapter  and  notes  should  be  on  the  booksellers' 
tables  now  in  a  few  days. 

The  book  itself  is  almost  a  simple  reprint,  but  I  hope 
that  the  introduction  and  notes  add  to  the  value  of  the 
volume. 

I  have  in  the  introduction  desired  to  approach  the  Atone- 


1866-67.  BANQUET  TO  DR.  MACLEOD.  183 

ment  from  the  opposite  side  to  that  on  which  I  have  ap- 
proached that  solemn  subject  in  the  book  itself. 

In  the  book  I  assume  the  faith  in  an  Atonement,  and  ask 
only  the  deeper  consideration  of  its  nature.  In  this  intro- 
duction I  have  in  view  the  state  of  mind,  now  sometimes  to 
be  met,  in  which  the  Incarnation  and  Atonement,  hitherto 
united  in  men's  thoughts,  are  disjoined,  and  the  faith  of  the 
Incarnation  is  accepted  while  that  of  the  Atonement  is 
rejected. 

The  notice  I  have  taken  of  the  seeming  causes  of  this 
disjunction  has  included  some  illustration  of  the  distinction 
between  the  "  reign  of  law  "  and  the  "  kingdom  of  God ; "  for 
while  the  Incarnation  may  be  accepted  as  the  highest  region 
of  the  reign  of  law,  the  faith  of  the  Atonement  implies  the 
further  apprehension  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  October  24th,  1867. 
My  dearest  James, — Having  my  leisure  and  my  aman- 
uensis and  the  habit  of  dictating  before  rising,  and  what  has 
been  my  work  for  some  time  being  finished,  I  think  I  cannot 
do  better  than  to  try  to  contribute  something  to  the  lightening 
of  your  solitude  by  giving  you  some  account  of  last  night's 
banquet,  given  to  Norman  Macleod  by  a  number  of  his  more 
personal  friends,  in  the  prospect  of  his  going  to  India.  Ten 
days  ago  it  was  put  into  my  power  to  be  one  of  the  party, 
but  I  declined  ;  but,  having  seen  Norman  on  Monday  last, 
and  felt  that  he  had  set  his  heart  very  much  on  having 
me  with  him,  I  reconsidered  the  matter  and  decided  to  ven- 
ture. I  am  very  glad  now  that  I  was  there.  I  was  placed 
on  his  right,  and  during  dinner  had  a  great  deal  of  conversa- 
tion with  him.  Mr.  James  Campbell  was  in  the  chair,  and 
conversed  chiefly  with  the  Bishop  of  Argyll,  who  sat  next 
the  chair  on  the  other  side  :  so  I  had  Norman  very  much  to 


1 84  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

myself.  His  heart  was  very  full  and  overflowed  abundantly  ; 
and  I  am  sure  he  felt  it  a  real  comfort  to  have  me  beside 
him.  Mr.  Campbell  did  his  part  remarkably  well.  The 
first  toast  was  of  course  "  the  Queen,"  in  giving  which  Mr. 
C.  referred  in  a  very  happy  way  to  the  life  of  the  Prince 
Consort.  He  also  delicately  but  unmistakeably  referred  to 
her  Majesty's  favour  for  their  honoured  guest.  The  second 
toast  was  "  the  Clergy  of  Scotland,  coupled  with  the  Bishop 
of  Argyll."  The  choice  of  the  expression  "  Clergy  of  Scot- 
land," rather  than  Church  of  Scotland,  permitted  this ;  and 
it  was  further  suitable  as  of  the  clergymen  present  some  were 
Free  Church,  some  United  Presbyterians ;  the  Bishop  repre- 
senting the  Episcopal  section.  Of  course  those  understood 
to  be  intended  by  the  expression  clergy  sat  down  while  the 
toast  was  being  drunk.  I  stood  up  with  the  drinkers  of  the 
toast,  for  which  Norman  rebuked  me.  My  friend  the  Bishop 
spoke  extremely  well  in  acknowledging  the  toast.  It  was  an 
opportunity  of  uttering  broad  catholic  sentiment  of  which 
he  was  glad  to  avail  himself;  making  use  of  the  character  of 
the  party  come  together  as  the  personal  friends  of  Dr. 
Macleod,  as  well  as  of  the  place  which  Dr.  Macleod  had  in 
men's  thoughts  generally,  and  speaking  of  his  mission  to 
India  as  what  he  believed  would  be  received  there  as  an  ex- 
pression of  the  interest  of  Scotland  in  the  people  of  India, 
rather  than  of  the  Established  Church  only.  This  feeling 
was  afterwards  accepted  as  the  true  interest  of  Dr.  Macleod's 
going  to  India  by  subsequent  clerical  speakers, 

Norman's  own  speech,  in  acknowledging  the  cordial  wel- 
come with  which  the  toast  of  his  health  was  received,  was 
extremely  good.  It  had  a  considerable  variety  in  it ;  was 
partly  playful  while  chiefly  grave ;  but  I  cannot  attempt  to 
give  you  any  idea  of  it.  He  was  chiefly  anxious  to  keep  ex- 
pectation of  a  fruit  of  the  mission  moderate,  promising  no 
more  than  an  honest  open-eyed  looking  at  things  to  know  the 
truth,  and  an  honest  report  of  that  truth  on  their  return.     Of 


1866-67.  HIS  SPEECH.  185 

course  he  had  to  speak  of  his  colleague,  Dr.  Watson,  of 
Dundee,  whose  health  was  subsequently  given,  and  to  whom 
a  part  of  the  interest  of  the  evening  attached.  What  would 
interest  you  most  was  what  concerned  me.  After  a  time  he 
said  to  me,  "  John,  I  am  going  to  give  your  health."  I  begged 
he  would  not ;  I  was  afraid  having  to  acknowledge  it  would 
hurt  me.  He  said,  "  But  I  will  hurt  you ;  you're  not 
dead  yet."  So  the  wilful  man  would  have  his  way,  and  1 
had  to  sit  and  hear  a  full  outpouring  of  his  feelings  about 
myself.  He  spoke  of  his  pleasure  in  having  such  an  assem- 
blage of  personal  friends,  any  one  of  whom  he  could  have 
given  as  a  toast  on  grounds  of  personal  acquaintance  and  in- 
terest (I  am  not  sure  of  his  words) ;  but  that  he  felt  it  a 
special  pleasure  to  have  sitting  beside  him  his  oldest  friend, 
and  the  friend  to  whom  he  felt  he  owed  most.  He  spoke  of 
the  effort  I  had  made  to  come ;  said  he  believed  that  for 
thirty  years  at  least'  I  had  not  been  at  such  meetings;  and 
that  thinking  rather  than  speaking  was  my  work,  &c.  This 
he  said  to  make  it  easy  for  me  to  say  as  little  as  I  pleased. 
He  then  gave  the  toast,  "  The  Rev.  John  Campbell,  late 
minister  of  Row,"  omitting  the  M'Leod  as  he  is  apt  to  do. 
The  Bishop  had,  in  referring  to  my  being  present,  called  me 
Mr.  M'Leod  Campbell,  a  mistake  the  other  way,  as  it  made 
M'Leod  a  surname.  Of  course  I  spoke  something,  but  I 
cannot  attempt  to  recall  it.  The  one  point  that  I  made 
something  of  was  my  satisfaction  on  seeing  my  dear  friend, 
after  his  thirty  years  in  the  ministry,  received  as  representing 
what  I  most  desired  should  be  cherished;  viz.,  catholicity 
of  thought  and  feeling,  rising  above  minor  distinctions,  and 
seeing  men  in  the  light  of  the  love  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  toast  of  Mrs.  Macleod  and  Mrs.  Watson  had,  it  ap- 
peared, been  set  apart  for  me,  though  I  was  not  aware  of  it, 
and  Mr.  Campbell  told  me  so  before  I  rose  to  speak ;  so  I 
stated  that  this  toast  had  been  entrusted  to  me,  and  said  that 


1 86  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

a  toast  connected  with  domestic  feeling  agreed  with  the 
nearness  of  my  personal  relation ;  and  I  brought  in  somehow, 
— I  cannot  recollect  how — as  what  might  interest  them  an 
incident  in  Dr.  Macleod's  childhood  which  was  in  some 
measure  prophetic  of  the  future  man.  When  a  very  little  boy 
at  Campbeltown  he  was  out  on  a  road  playing,  when  ahorse 
which  had  run  away  with  a  cart  seemed  about  to  run  over 
him,  to  the  terror  of  the  nurse  who  could  do  nothing  to 
save  him.  He  escaped,  having  had  presence  of  mind  to 
take  advantage  of  a  recess  in  the  wall  along  the  road ; 
and  when  they  got  to  him  he  met  them  saying,  "  Boy 
not  afraid." 

His  brothers  George  and  Donald  were  there,  and  there 
were  several  others  whom  I  knew ;  especially  Mr.  Alexander 
Crum,  Professor  Buchanan,  Mr.  M'Farlane  who  was  at  Ros- 
neath,  &c.  Mr.  Macnee,  the  painter,  was  of  the  party,  and 
Norman  drew  from  him  two  of  his  good  stories  ;  one  of  them 
that  inimitable  one  about  the  hat.  It  was  a  very  successful 
meeting,  and  I  got  home  a  little  after  eleven. 

To  the  Same. 

Laurel  Bank,  November  5th,  1867. 

Your  questions  have  set  my  mind  aworking  on  political 
economy.  I  see  that  it  must  be  difficult  to  separate  between 
the  operation  of  the  causes  strictly  within  the  province  of 
political  economy,  and  that  of  other  causes  affecting  our 
social  state,  which  also  demand  the  attention  of  legislators. 

The  root-principle  of  political  economy  is  to  allow  the  in- 
stinct of  self-interest  free  scope,  interfering  with  it  only  so 
far  as  not  to  allow  the  selfishness  of  one  unfairly  to  cross  the 
selfishness  of  another.  Hence  the  place  which  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand  has  given  to  it.  I  have  always  felt  it  a 
distinctive  excellence  in  Dr.  Chalmers'  system  of  political 
economy  that  it  contemplates  results  to  be  reached  by  rais- 


1866-67.  POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  187 

ing  the  moral  tone  of  men's  minds,  partly  by  what  is  no  more 
than  the  enlightening  of  selfishness  in  the  way  of  giving  a 
taste  for  higher  gratification,  but  more  distinctively  by 
awakening  the  sense  of  higher  obligations.  His  principle  of 
helping  people  to  help  themselves  took  practically  the  form 
of  helping  them  to  realize  the  good  which  God  placed  within 
their  reach,  whatever  their  circumstances  externally  might 
be,  or  however  these  might  increase  the  difficulty  of  attaining 
to  that  good.  For  his  faith  was  in  the  power  of  moral  causes 
as  mightier  than  physical  circumstances.  Social  science  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  now  moving  in  the  opposite  direction,  and 
to  be  recognizing  the  power  of  physical  circumstances  as  the 
mightier.  I  feel  it  difficult  to  say  to  myself  with  any  con- 
fidence what  weight  should  be  attached  to  physical  circum- 
stances. I  feel  the  obligation  to  ameliorate  these ;  yet  I  am 
jealous  of  the  tendency  to  make  moral  results  contingent  on 
such  amelioration,  being  jealous  for  that  law  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  that  "  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God,"  and  seeing  the  gain  to  the  spirit  of  man  and  the 
glory  to  God  of  the  victory  of  faith,  in  the  most  adverse  con- 
ditions, to  be  so  great.  But  while  I  would  protest  against 
the  idea  that  you  must  make  men  first  comfortable  before 
you  can  hope  to  make  them  good,  and  while  I  also  believe 
that  to  make  men  good  is  the  shortest  path  often  to  making 
them  comfortable,  I  would  not  interfere  ^vith  the  efforts  of  a 
judicious  benevolence  to  mitigate  discomfort. 

But  I  am,  you  will  think,  forgetting  my  subject — viz., 
political  economy.  What  I  am  contemplating  is  the  diffi- 
culty of  leaving  it  to  take  its  own  course.  This  private 
benevolence  must  ever  hesitate  to  do ;  and  this  also  the  state 
or  government  in  its  parental  aspect  must  also  hesitate  to  do. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  saying  to  " laissez  faire"  ' Thus  far 
shalt  thou  go  and  no  farther.'  I  think  what  we  may  call  the 
parental  instinct  of  the  state  is  what  we  must  recognize  as 
finding  expression  in  those  regulations  as  to  hours  of  labour 


1 88  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xii. 

in  factories,  &c.,  which  the  Duke  speaks  of  as  called  for  by 
new  circumstances  modifying  principles  of  political  economy.^ 
Strictly. speaking  Dr.  Chalmers  and  the  state  approach  one 
evil  from  opposite  sides.  Dr.  Chalmers  says,  "  Save  the 
children  from  being  overwrought  by  raising  the  moral  feeling 
of  the  parent."  The  state  says  to  the  parent,  "  The  child  is 
mine  as  well  as  yours,  and  I  will  not  suffer  you  to  hurt  it." 
But  on  both  sides  something  else  than  a  force  belonging  to 
political  economy  is  called  into  operation.  As  to  Trades' 
Unions,  to  which  the  Duke  looks  as,  if  well  regulated,  likely 
to  do  the  work  of  the  state  in  this  matter,  they  appear  to  me 
an  interference  with  the  laws  of  political  economy  too  purely 
selfish  to  have  any  claim  to  be  classed  either  with  the  action 
of  the  state  in  factory  laws,  or  with  the  action  of  moral  influ- 
ence contemplated  by  Dr.  Chalmers. 

1  See  The  Reign  of  Law,  by  the  Uuke  of  Argyll,  chapter  vii.,   Law  in 
Politics. 


189 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
1868-1869. 

Degree  of  D.D.  conferred  on  Mr.  Campbell — Marriage  of  liis  Daughter 
— Visit  to  England — Letters  to  Mr.  Prichard,  Mr.  Vaughan,  Mr. 
Erskine,  and  others — Jeremy  Taylor  on  Repentance — "Restitution 
of  all  things  " — Clergy  and  Laity — Dr.  Wylie's  Jubilee — Visit  to 
St.  Andrews — John  Keble — The  Irish  Church. 

In  the  spring  of  1868  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was 
conferred  on  Mr.  Campbell  by  the  University  of  Glasgow. 
He  valued  the  degree  as  coming  from  his  old  University, 
and  as  a  recognition  of  his  work  as  a  theological  writer. 
Many  expressions  of  approval  and  congratulation  came  from 
various  quarters.  The  Bishop  of  Argyll,  for  example,  wrote 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Caird,  which  appeared  in  the  newspapers. 
"  Few,"  he  said,  "who  have  had  any  interest  in  the  religious 
life  of  Scotland  for  the  last  forty  years  but  will  regard  the 
event  with  deep  emotion,  significant  as  it  is  of  the  change  in 
religious  feeling  which  has  taken  place.  If  it  has  been  Mr, 
Campbell's  happiness  to  receive  in  this  life  that  recognition 
Avhich  confessors  too  often  but  receive  after  their  death,  it  is 
becoming  on  the  part  of  those  who  rejoice  in  the  recognition 
to  testify  their  joy,  and  to  return  thanks  to  those  by  whom 
the  recognition  has  been  made." 

In  February  of  this  year  Mr.  Campbell's  youngest  daughter 
had  been  married  to  Mr.  William  Crum,  second  son  of  the 


iQO  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

late  Mr.  Walter  Crum  of  Thornliebank, — an  event  which 
gave  him  unmixed  pleasure;  and  in  June  he  went  to  stay 
with  his  son-in-law  near  Manchester.  He  afterwards 
visited  Mr.  David  Robertson  at  Lye  Vicarage,  near  Stour- 
bridge, and  Mr.  Vaughan  at  Leicester.  At  Mr.  Vaughan's 
house  he  met,  besides  other  clergymen  who  were  interested 
in  his  books,  Mr.  C.  E.  Prichard,^  Rector  of  South  Luffen- 
ham,  with  whom  he  had  already  corresponded.  In  a  letter 
written  after  Mr.  Prichard's  death  he  thus  recalled  the  long 
conversation  which  they  had  had  together :  "  I  have,  ever 
since  I  passed  that  day  with  him  at  David  Vaughan's,  thought 
of  him  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  clergymen  I  had  ever 
seen;  especially  because  of  his  exceeding  humility.  He  had 
many  questions  to  put,  and  listened  with  such  openness,  that 
it  quite  took  all  my  consciousness  of  only  saying  what  I 
knew  to  give  me  courage  to  speak.  It  certainly  helped  me 
to  keep  within  that  consciousness,  within  which  I  always 
desire  to  keep." 

Towards  the  end  of  this  year  (1868)  he  was  engaged  in 
preparing  a  second  edition  of  Christ  the  Bread  of  Life,  to 
which  he  added  a  new  chapter  on  "  the  development  of  the 
Mass  from  the  Lord's  Supper." 

In  May,  1869,  he  determined  to  leave  his  house  at  Par- 
tick,  and  to  spend  what  might  remain  of  his  life  at  Rosneath. 
This  plan  was  not,  however,  carried  out  until  the  following 
year.  In  October  of  this  year  his  third  son  went  to  Bombay 
in  the  Civil  Service. 

^  Mr.  Prichard  was  the  writer  of  the  article  in  the  North  British  Review, 
■on  "  Modem  Views  of  the  Atonement,"  which  has  been  ah-eady  referred 
to  (see  page  128).  "  Constantine  Prichard,"  writes  Principal  Shairp, 
"was  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Balliol,  afterwards  Rector  of  Luffenham,  Rut- 
landshire. He  was  at  once  one  of  the  most  thoughtful,  truthful,  and 
religious  men  I  have  ever  known,  though  the  world  has  heard  little  of 
him." 


1868-69.  MR.  C.  E.  P RICHARD.  191 

To  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Prichard. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  January  loth,  1868. 

My  dear  Sir, — I  will  not  delay  acknowledging  your  letter 
of  the  6th,  although  I  must  be  contented  to  reply  to  your 
questions  more  briefly  than  I  could  wish.  But  I  must  first 
say  how  much  comfort  your  experience  in  relation  to  my 
book  affords  me.     .     .     . 

It  would  have  taken  more  space  than  I  have  allowed 
myself  in  the  note  ^  to  which  you  refer,  to  do  justice  to  my 
own  sense  of  a  true  apprehension  of  justification  by  faith. 
I  Avas  contented  to  be  so  brief  because  I  thought  that,  in 
dealing  with  the  dogma  of  imputed  righteousness,  I  had 
sufficiently  expressed  my  conception  of  what  God  recognizes 
as  the  righteous  condition  of  the  human  spirit ;  viz.,  the 
response  of  faith  to  what  God  makes  known  of  Himself 
Such  response,  as  Luther  says,  gives  God  His  true  glory  ; 
and  in  realizing  this  we  must  realize  its  Tightness  as  what  is 
due  from  man  to  God.  Yet  the  acceptableness  to  God  of 
this  condition  of  spirit  is  only  fully  understood  when  we  dis- 
cern the  necessary  oneness  of  this  response  with  that  to  which 
it  responds.  We  are  becoming  one  with  what  we  are  believ- 
ing, ill  believing.  Our  acceptance  of  it  as  true,  and  peaceful 
reposing  on  its  truth,  imply  a  welcome  which  is  a  yielding 
to  it,  and  coming  under  its  power  as  the  light  of  life. 

I  recognise  the  truth  of  the  observation  of  Auberlen  which 
you  refer  to.^  The  judicial  aspect  of  salvation  may  be  said 
to  be  lower  than  that  in  which  it  is  seen  as  a  healing  and  a 
quickening :  while  this  latter  again  may  be  said  to  be  lower 

^  i.e.  the  Note  to  Chapter  II.  Nature  of  the  Atonement. 

^  "  Only  to-day  in  reading  Auberlen  (a  devout  and  profound  thinker) 
I  find  him  saying,  that  '  Salvation  was  looked  upon  in  the  older 
Protestantism,  not  so  much  as  a  healing  of  the  sick  or  quickening  of  the 
dead,  as  a  justification  or  acquittal  of  the  accused  by  the  judge.'  "  The 
reference  is  to  this  passage  in  Mr.  Prichard's  letter. 


192  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

than  its  aspect  as  fellowship  in  the  Divine  Sonship.  But 
they  are  all  three  true  aspects,  while  the  first  and  second  are 
adequately  conceived  of  only  in  the  light  of  the  third.  Right- 
eousness, health,  and  life  can  only  be  intelligently  predicated 
of  Sonship.  In  so  far  as  this  is  light  in  advance  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Reformers,  it  has  appeared  to  me  as  only 
laying  a  deeper  foundation  for  justification  by  faith ;  while, 
had  they  attained  to  this  light  and  dwelt  in  it,  they  could 
never  have  embarrassed  that  doctrine  with  those  contrivances 
for  protecting  it  from  abuse  which  we  meet  with  in  Protestant 
'  theology,  more  especially  as  we  know  it  in  Scotland.  I  refer 
to  the  demand  for  the  consciousness  of  fruits  of  faith  as 
evidence  that  ours  is  a  saving  faith.  The  practical  operation 
of  this  demand,  in  hindering  simplicity  of  faith,  and  marring 
the  power  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
change  us  into  the  same  image,  corresponds  with  that  of  the 
demand  for  a  perfecting  of  faith  by  charity  in  Romanism. 
If  salvation  is  understood  to  be  the  life  of  Sonship,  the  justify- 
ing, healing,  quickening  power  will  be  seen  to  abide  in  the 
faith  of  the  Fatherliness  of  the  Father.     .     .     . 

You  ask,  if  there  be  "no  doubt"  in  the  mind  as  to  the 
redeeming  love  revealed  in  Christ,  while  yet  the  faith  of  that 
love  is  not  having  that  response  of  loving  obedience  which  it 
ought  to  have,  "  What  is  the  best  means  of  curing  this  ? 
Is  it  by  aiming  to  have  a  stronger  belief  that  God  loves  vie 
individually  ?  or  a  stronger  apprehension  of  His  universal 
love  ?  "  Let  me  say  that  the  antithesis  which  you  seem  thus 
to  mark  does  not  exist  to  my  faith.  I  mean,  that  I  see 
God's  love  to  me  as  an  individual  as  one  with  the  love  to  all 
revealed  in  Christ.  I  believe  that  the  "  weakness  of  the 
pj-actical  will,"  of  which  you  speak,  can  alone  be  cured  by  a 
stronger  faith  in  the  Divijie  will  concerning  us,  to  which  our 
will  is  to  be  conformed.  But  I  feel  that  undoubting  belief 
in  the  reality  of  that  will  of  God  concerning  us  which  is 
revealed  in  Christ,  is  too  easily  assumed  by  us ;  and  that  in 


1868-69.  JEREMY  TAYLOR.  193 

consequence  we  complain  of  inadequate  power  in  our  faith 
when  we  ought  rather  to  be  found  praying,  "  Lord,  increase 
our  faith." 

You  do  rightly  conclude  that  I  cannot  accept  that  teaching 
of  Bishop  Taylor,^  on  the  subject  of  repentance,  to  which 
you  refer.  Is  not  the  relation  of  repentance  to  forgiveness, 
as  he  seems  to  represent  it,  the  inversion  of  the  true  relation? 
Is  not  the  faith  of  forgiving  love  the  true  power  to  repent  ? 
Is  not  the  "  goodness  of  God  which  leads  to  repentance  " 
one  with  the  "  forgiveness  which  is  with  God  that  he  may  be 
feared"?  Repentance  as  the  actual  turning  of  the  heart  to 
God,  our  being  "  reconciled  to  God,"  belongs  to  the  response 
of  faith  to  the  revelation  of  redeeming  love.     .     .     . 

I  shall  be  most  happy  to  have  the  opportunity  of  personal 
acquaintance  with  you  ; — here  if  you  are  able  to  include  a 
visit  to  me  in  any  future  visit  to  Scotland ;  at  your  own  home 
if  you  are  able  to  receive  me  when  I  am  next  in  England. 

The  one-sidedness  of  the  Reformation  teaching  to  which 
you  refer,  I  feel  to  be  more  safely  dealt  with  in  recognizing 
^  the  fact,  which  I  thankfully  believe  it  to  be,  that  in  so  much 
earnest  personal  dealing  with  God  as  existed  in  the  church 
before  the  Reformation,  and  has  not  since  the  Reformation 
been  limited  to  Protestants,  there  has  been  and  is  much 
simple  faith  in  God;  much  serving  of  God  in  the  Spirit, 
accepted  of  God,  which  has  been  a  justification  by  faith, 
however  little    distinguished   in   the    self-consciousness   of 

^  Mr.  Pri chard  had  said  in  his  letter  :  "  He  (Jeremy  Taylor)  teaches 
that  forgiveness  is  not  given  at  once,  but  as  it  were,  in  instalments,  and 
in  proportion  as  repentance — that  is,  obedience — becomes  more  perfect: 
that  a  relaxation  of  repentance  for  past  sin  causes  the  sin  to  rise  up 
again  for  punishment ;  and  that  there  is  no  assurance  of  forgiveness 
(though  in  proportion  to  repentance  every  hope  of  it)  till  the  day  of 
judgment."  Compare  Jeremy  Taylor's  Works,  Eden's  Edition,  Vol.  II., 
p.  119,  and  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  20.  For  these  references  I  am  indebted  to 
the  Rev.  John  F.  Halford,  Kilby. 

VOL.  II.  N 


194  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

worshippers  from  much  that  has  been  mingled  with  it,  which 
has  been  of  the  nature  of  dead  works. 

The  purpose  with  which  I  commenced  this  letter,  of  mak- 
ing my  reply  brief,  you  will  feel  has  not  been  adhered  to. 
Yet  I  feel  it  so  brief  and  so  inadequate  that  it  will  leave  me 
longing  for  the  opportunity  of  conversation  with  you. 

I  am,  my  dear  Mr.  Prichard,  yours  very  truly, 

John  M'Leod  Campbell. 

P.S. — I  feel  that  the  desire  to  be  clear  and  pointed  has 
made  me  hard  and  liney,  and  almost  what  you  will  feel  dog- 
matic ;  hiding,  I  fear,  the  extent  of  my  sympathy  with  what 
you  say  of  problems  of  religious  life  recurring,  and  calling  for 
fresh  solution  over  and  over  again.  Yet  I  know  that  the 
apprehension  of  the  essential  righteousness  of  faith,  attained 
now  about  forty  years  ago,  has  saved  me  from  much  that  I 
have  seen  others  suffer;  causing  me  to  regard  progress  in  the 
Divine  life  as  progress  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  in  the 
simplicity  of  the  faith  which  trusts  God,  rather  than  as  pro- 
gress in  spiritual  attainment,  whether  repentance  or  any  other 
grace.  Doubtless  the  one  progress  really  implies  the  other ; 
knowledge  of  God  growing  with  obedience  and  our  personal 
proving  of  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God; 
strength  for  obedience  growing  with  knowledge  of  God. 

To  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  8th  Februafy,  1868. 
My  dear  Friend, — I  sympathize  most  deeply  with  you 
in  this  trial,  while  I  am  most  thankful  for  all  your  rich  con- 
solation in  the  memory  of  what  your  brother  has  been  to 
you, — and  in  other  relations  of  life, — and  in  his  work  and 
labour  of  love  during  his  brief  course  as  a  minister  of  Christ. 
I  know  that  you  will  cherish  the  faith  that  all  for  which  you 
so  loved  and  valued  him  abides  in  him ;  while  the  higher 


1868-69.  MR.  E.   VAUGHAN.  195 

development  which  he  may  now  have  reached — or  may 
hereafter  reach — will  not  rebuke  or  extinguish  the  special 
love  with  which  your  heart  has  responded  to  what  he  had 
attained  here.  For  indeed  it  seems  to  me  that  our  indi" 
viduality  is  so  related  to  our  personality  that  nothing  for 
which  we  have  rightly  loved  each  other  will  cease  to  be  an 
element  in  the  love  that  abides  for  ever. 

I  am  thankful  that  I  knew  your  brother,  and  for  the  deep 
interest  which  he  awakened  in  me.  I  have  often  gone  back 
to  his  free  conversation  with  me  that  day  that  I  visited  him 
at  Harrow,  not  long  after  his  ordination ;  and  I  give  thanks 
that  you  speak  of  his  pleasure  in  his  work,  as  well  as  of  his 
zeal;  and  I  believe  that  his  "sweet  patience"  under  so 
much  suffering  was  the  fruit,  not  of  his  lowly  estimate  of 
himself  only,  but  also  of  confidence  in  the  Love  which  was 
appointing  his  suffering.  May  his  faith  and  patience 
strengthen  ours ! 

We  thank  Mrs.  Vaughan  and  you  for  your  interest  in 
what  has  been  so  deep  an  interest  to  us  here.  My  daughter's 
marriage  was  last  Wednesday,  the  5th ;  and  the  occupation 
of  that  day,  and  the  reaction  after  much  tension  of  feeling 
for  some  weeks,  have  alone  delayed  my  expression  of  our 
deep  sympathy : — which  yet,  in  the  midst  of  all  that  has 
been  so  bright  here,  I  have  been  inwardly  feeling  ever  since 
I  received  your  letter.  I  had  one  brother — one  only — but 
one  in  whom  there  was  a  very  peculiar  strength  of  brother- 
liness,  and  enough  of  community  of  feeling  to  impart  the 
special  character  of  friendship  to  our  relation  to  each  other ; 
that  character  of  choice,  I  mean,  which  distinguishes  friend- 
ship, as  well  as  marriage,  from  blood-relationships,  which 
come  to  us  as  chosen  for  us. 

I  thank  you  for  writing  to  me — that  I  might  be  with  you 
in  heart  and  thought,  while  you  are,  day  by  day,  realizing 
your  loss, — and  the  blank  left, — and  seeking  to  learn  from 
this  bereavement  what  it  should  teach,  and  to  receive  that 


196  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

strengthening  of  faith  through  the  exercise  of  faith  which  is 
the  everlasting  consolation. 

Believe  me,  yours  with  affectionate  sympathy, 

John  M'L.  Campbell. 
To  his  Second  Son. 

Partick,  i6th  February,  1868. 

Your  last  letter  to  J.  M.  Campbell  has  been  forwarded  to 
J.  M.  Crum,  along  with  her  new  brother's, — both  to  be 
acknowledged,  I  suppose,  from  Rome. 

You  will  have  details  of  our  great  event  from  more  facile, 
and  it  may  be  more  graphic,  pens ;  so  I  abstain  from  offering 
anything  of  that  kind.  The  impression  that  has  remained 
with  me  of  the  marriage  is  solemn  and  also  beautiful,  and 
that  of  the  wedding  cheerful  and  bright.  Our  darling  kept 
up  marvellously. 

I  did  not  at  once  realize  the  great  change  here  to  us  all ; 
but  it  is  very  great ;  and  though  it  is  truly  a  getting  a  son 
and  a  brother  rather  than  the  loss  of  a  daughter  and  sister, 
yet  for  the  present  what  is  taken  from  us  is  more  realized 
than  what  is  added  to  us,  though  during  the  interval  between 
the  engagement  and  the  marriage  it  seemed  otherwise. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Edinburgh,  26th  February,  1868. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  know  when  to  speak  and  when  to 
forbear,  seeing  that  speaking  only  helps  another  when  the 
outward  admonition  is  sealed  by  the  inward  voice  of  God  in 
the  heart.  Oh,  my  darling  child,  seek  ever  to  be  quick  to 
hear  that  voice ;  seek  this  as  one  whose  life  is  consciously  a 
life  in  God's  favour,  not  in  your  o\vn  favour — as  one  resting 
in  His  acknowledgment  of  you,  not  in  your  acknowledg- 


1868-69.  PUTEOLI.  197 

ment  of  yourself;  and  let  us  never  forget  that  we  cannot 
know  the  sweet  sense  of  God's  approving  if  we  shrink  from 
the  sharp  feeling  of  God's  condemning.  You  remember  my 
favourite  psalm,  the  139th,  and  my  favourite  prayer  in  it, 
— "  Search  me  and  try  me,  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked 
way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 


Laurel  Bank,  14th  March,  1868. 

I  saw  more  in  proportion  of  Naples  than  of  Rome.  One 
feeling  that  I  always  recal  as  what  I  would  not  exchange  for 
that  awakened  by  any  other  association,  was  what  was 
awakened  by  the  certainty  that  St.  Paul  must  have  landed 
on  the  old  pier  at  Puteoli,  on  which  I  was  treading ;  for  it 
dates  further  back  than  his  landing.  It  made  me  almost 
envy  the  faith  in  the  traditions  of  the  church  which  give  a 
similar  and  still  more  intense  interest  (to  those  having  that 
faith)  to  St.  Peter's  supposed  cell  in  the  Capitol  prison,  &c. 
Yet  such  interests,  however  allowable  the  feeling  of  them 
when  historically  justified  (as  of  course  they  are  abundantly 
in  the  Holy  Land),  are  but  shadows  of  the  high  moral  and 
spiritual  interest  which  attaches  to  all  the  mental  localities,  so 
to  speak,  which  we  visit  when  walking  by  faith  in  the  foot- 
steps of  those  who  through  faith  and  patience  inherit  the 
promises.  These  are  ever  within  our  reach.  Would  that 
we  knew  them  better  !  visited  them  more  frequently  !  This 
thought  you  have  heard  me  express  in  its  highest  form,  viz., 
in  relation  to  partaking  in  the  mind  of  Christ — walking  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  Son  of  God. 

22nd  March, 

You  are  both  very  good  in  being  mindful  of  our  interest 
in  yourselves  and  your  movements,  though  we  must  wait  to 
learn  by  our  own  observation  how  much  you  are  being 
improved  by  your  travels.     A  wider  horizon  both  as  to 


198  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

space  and  as  to  time  should  enlarge  the  mind,  helping  us 
out  of  the  narrow  limits  of  our  individuality,  because  awaking 
a  wide  interest  in  humanity,  seeing  ourselves  members  of 
so  wide  spread  and  so  old  a  human  family — a  family  because 
One  is  our  Father,  and  all  we  are  brethren.  It  is  in  the 
light  of  this,  and  our  relation  to  God  as  one,  that  other 
nations  and  the  past  generations  have  the  highest  and  most 
healthful  interest  to  us,  as  it  is  in  truth  in  the  light  of  our 
relation  to  God  that  we  have  the  truest  and  purest  in  our- 
selves and  in  the  loved  ones  most  identified  with  ourselves. 


To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  4th  March,  1868. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Erskine  was  better  than  I  expected  to  find 
him ;  and,  as  usual,  I  felt  more  fellowship  with  him  in  what 
seems  to  be  his  life,  and  what  I  desire  may  more  and  more 
be  my  own  life,  than  I  ever  feel  with  any  other  man.  This 
notwithstanding  of  differences  in  our  understanding  of  many 
passages  of  Scripture  and  even  in  our  thoughts : — his  ten- 
dency to  reduce  many  aspects  of  truth  to  one  making  him 
hesitate  to  see  now  the  importance,  not  to  say  the  correct- 
ness, of  what  he  once  urged ;  making  him,  indeed,  appear  to 
give  up  what  he  once  held.  I  do  not  believe  that  his  views 
have  at  all  changed  as  they  appear  to  himself  to  have  done ; 
and  I  have  urged  him  to  have  his  old  books  read  to  him,  in 
the  expectation  that  he  may  receive  from  his  former  self,  so 
to  speak,  strictures  upon  what  he  now  dwells  exclusively  on, 
that  he  cannot  easily  receive  from  another.  This,  however, 
I  say  with  no  reference  to  that  great  distinguishing  element 
in  his  thoughts,  viz.,  his  expectation  as  to  "  the  restitution  of 
all  things  "  which  had  a  place  in  him  before  I  knew  him  : 
although  occupation  with  the  present  Gospel  of  remission  of 
sins  through  the  death  of  Christ  for  all  men,  did,  in  the  Row 


1868-69.        RESTITUTION  OF  ALL  THINGS.  199 

days,  and  for  a  considerable  time,  seem  to  engross  him  and 
be  all  the  Gospel  he  needed.  Now  he  feels  that  to  be  but 
the  first  element  in  the  Gospel,  and  the  hope,  into  which  he 
sees  it  expanding,  he  feels  essential  to  its  being  to  him  Gospel 
indeed;  while  he  further  sees  what  is  to  him  implied  in  the 
love  of  God  to  man  manifest  in  the  death  of  Christ,  not  only 
as  so  implied,  but  as  actually  taught  by  St.  Paul,  and  what 
we  must  see  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  if  we  understand 
it.  Whether  he  will  ever  satisfy  himself  with  the  adequacy 
of  his  own  bringing  out  of  the  apostle's  teaching  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Romans  so  as  to  publish  it,  I  know  not,  but  he  still 
labours  at  this  work.^ 

The  end  is  what  many  have  arrived  at,  and  are  arriving 
at,  whose  path  differs  from  his  greatly.  How  far  his 
thoughts  may  advantageously  qualify  their  thoughts,  if 
they  appear  in  a  book,  I  do  not  know  :  but  they  have 
at  all  events  this  advantage,  that  he  builds  on  the  holiness 
and  righteousness  of  God,  and  not  on  mere  benevolence 
only.  Of  course  as  a  question  with  those  who  recognize  the 
authority  of  Scripture,  it  ceases  to  be  so  in  proportion  as  he 
contends  that  Scripture  is  on  his  side.  It  is,  indeed,  mar- 
vellous how  men,  all  bowing  to  Scripture,  read  Scripture  so 
differently.  I  cannot,  with  the  Romanist,  conclude  from 
this  a  necessity  for  an  infallible  Church.  I  only  feel  cast  on 
the  infallible  teacher,  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  at  the  same 
time  I  feel,  along  with  thankfulness  that  the  Holy  Spirit  does 
teach,  the  painful  sense  of  how  limited  our  individual  ex- 
perience of  His  teaching  is ;  as  well  as  how  precious  is  any 
measure  of  such  experience,  as  compared  with  the  ordinary 
confidence  with  which  men  quote  the  Scriptures,  accepting 
the  words  of  inspiration  in  traditional  meanings  which  they 
have  never  proved  in  the  light  of  the  Spirit. 

^  The  result  of  these  labours  was  published  after  Mr.  Erskine's  death 
in  the  volume  entitled  "  The  Spiritual  Order." 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 


To  Mr.  Erskine. 


Laurel  Bank,  7th  March,  1S68. 

Beloved  Friend, — I  thank  our  God  for  your  love,  and 
for  the  consciousness  of  love  to  you.  I  feel  that  we  are 
taught  of  God  to  love  one  another.  I  believe  that  any 
difference  that  remains  between  our  thoughts  as  to  what  lies 
between  the  original  love  in  God  to  which  we  go  back  and 
the  ultimate  realization  of  the  will  of  that  love  to  which  we 
look  forward,  as  it  has  already  lessened,  may  yet  pass  away 
— must,  doubtless,  in  that  future  in  which  we  shall  know 
even  as  also  we  are  known.  In  the  meantime  what  differ- 
ence of  vision  remains  may  be  a  profitable  discipline  to  us 
both,  and  help  us  to  distinguish  between  our  intellectual 
communion  and  our  spiritual  communion.  I  think  perhaps 
the  demand  for  the  former  is  stronger  in  you  than  in  me, 
and  that  this  may  be  owing  to  my  pastoral  relations  to  so 
many,  the  awakening  of  whose  spirits  to  the  importance  of 
their  personal  relation  to  God  has  prepared  them  more  for 
the  latter.  But  when  we  become  "  full  orbed,"  if  this  hope 
be  not  a  growth  of  our  personaiity  to  be  modified  by  the  full 
apprehension  of  our  membership,  we  shall  see  eye  to  eye 
intellectually  as  well  as  spiritually. 

Dear  Mrs.  Erskine !  ^  Her  removal  is  to  me  one  of 
those  emptyings  of  the  visible,  the  sense  of  which  always 
affects  me  when  friends  are  taken  away  who  have  been 
of  that  Church  within  the  Church  to  which,  notwithstand- 
ing of  my  conscious  catholicity,  I  have  found  myself  prac- 
tically shut  in.  As  a  question  of  real  communion  there 
are  circles  within  circles;  and  dear  Mrs.  Erskine,  while 
holding  fast  her  confidence  in  my  love  to  Christ,  and  my 
love  to  the  souls  of  men,  was  unable  to  meet  me  where 
Mrs.  Paterson  would  have  met  me,  and  Miss  Paterson 
^  Mr.  Erskine's  sister-in-law. 


1868-69.  MRS.  JAMES  ERSKINE.  201 

also  :  but  her  confidence  in  me  bore  fruits  of  kindness  to 
me,  the  remembrance  of  which  I  treasure,  and  will  ever 
treasure,  not  merely  with  gratitude  but  also  as  fruits  of  love 
to  God  and  to  righteousness.  Very  high  esteem  blended 
with  the  deep  sense  of  her  kindness,  which  it  could  not  but 
do,  seeing  how  naturally  she  cared  for  others.  To  you,  dear 
friend,  she  was  a  part  of  the  past  in  a  very  different  way  : 
and  her  removal  will  renew  and  deepen  your  feeling  of  being 
alone,  though  in  itself  a  less  loss  than  those  to  which  it  is 
added.     .     .     . 

One  element  in  our  comfort  in  believing  in  the  continual 
teaching  for  which  eternity  gives  room,  is,  patience  under 
present  differences  of  light.  As  to  such  diiferences  I  fear 
you  feel  me  wanting  in  due  patience.  I  trust  I  am  less  so 
than  I  may  have  been.  I  am  indeed  anxious  that  they 
should  not  appear  greater  than  they  really  are  ;  that  in  offer- 
ing more  light  we  should  not  seem  to  contradict  any  real 
light  already  attained. 

Mrs.  Campbell  desires  her  love  to  you  and  sympathizes 

much  in  your  feeling  of  being  left  alone — as  I  do ;  but  we 

both  believe  that  in  measure  you  know  what  it  is  to  be  not 

alone,  because  the  Father  is  with  you. 

Ever  yours  in  much  love, 

John  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  March,  1868. 

I  have  finished  Schleiermacher,^  and  feel  that  it  has  made 
me  acquainted  with  a  new  phase  of  the  German  mind,  as 
social  rather  than  as  absorbed  in  abstract  thought;  although 
a  social  existence  of  which  self-consciousness  and  much 
mental  analysis  has  been  the  character.  But  he  dealt  with 
1  i.e.,  his  Life. 


202  MEMORIALS.      .  chap.  xiii. 

all  the  thought  of  his  time  also,  although  his  letters  refer  to 
rather  than  record  his  dealing  with  it.  I  understand  from 
Caird  that  he  held  an  independent  adverse  position  in 
relation  to  Hegel  with  more  power  than  any  one  else. 

As  to  religion,  he  never  lost  altogether  what  his  early 
Moravian  training  had  quickened  in  him,  and  its  power 
seemed  greatest  towards  the  close;  but  his  faith  rather 
acknowledged  God  as  the  source  of  all  that  others  were  to 
him — of  his  own  and  their  capacities  of  love — than  as 
hearing  and  responding  to  the  love  which  says,  My  son, 
give  Me  thine  heart.  He  thought  he  was  able  to  co-ordinate 
his  religion  and  his  philosophy,  as  Jacobi  found  himself  able 
to  do  ;  but  I  could  not  but  fear  that  his  philosophical  diffi- 
culty as  to  the  personality  of  God  affected  his  heart's  God- 
ward  movements. 

March,  1868. 

I  got  home  on  Saturday  evening,  having  made  a  very 
pleasant  visit  to  Edinburgh.  I  may  say  "to  Edinburgh," 
because  I  saw  something  of  many  friends,  but  in  truth  my 
visit  was  to  my  beloved  Mr.  Erskine ;  and  of  him  I  saw 
more  than  in  any  visit  (save  the  former  one)  for  many  years. 
But  he  was  much  better  now  than  when  I  was  last  with  him : 
and,  although  both  his  thinking  and  his  exposition  of  par- 
ticular texts  often  failed  to  satisfy  me,  I  felt,  as  I  always  feel, 
that  with  no  one  have  I  such  deep  communion  of  religious 
feeling, — such  fellowship  in  the  fellowship  of  the  life  of 
Christ :  and  to  see  Christianity  itself  in  the  light  of  God  is, 
doubtless,  infinitely  more  than  the  best  intellectual  moulding 
of  a  system  or  the  most  successful  exegesis. 

1 2th  April,  1868. 
.     .     .     The  Bishop  of  Argyll  has  sent  me  a  series  of 
numbers  of  the   Guaj-diaii ;  and  there  is  surely  something 
very  affecting  in  the  debates  in  the  two  Houses  of  Convoca- 


1868-69.  CLERGY  AND  LAITY.  203 

tion.  They  recalled  to  me  what  Mr.  Buchanan,  our  late 
Glasgow  M.P.,  said  to  me  some  time  ago, — that  it  was  his 
impression,  from  all  he  was  seeing  and  hearing,  that  a 
growing  indifference  to  the  church,  on  the  part  of  the  laity, 
was  keeping  pace  with  a  growing  magnifying  of  their  office 
on  the  part  of  the  clergy.  There  is  some  right  commenda- 
tion of  the  clergy  and  of  the  church  in  all  increased  interest 
in  their  flocks ;  but  if  the  sense  of  our  spiritual  wants  dies 
out  in  men,  and  that  both  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  such 
wants,  and  the  trustworthiness  of  what  is  offered  as  the 
supply  of  these  wants,  come  to  be  believed  (if  believed  at 
all)  only  on  authority,  then  what  religion  survives  will  be 
little  better  than  superstition. 

The  "  restorers  of  paths  to  dwell  in  "  will  be  those  who 
are  so  awakened  to  a  living  sense  of  their  own  relation  to  a 
spiritual  world  that  they  feel  their  need  as  spirits,  and 
therefore  will  so  speak  of  that  need  as  to  quicken  a  sense  of 
it  in  others,  and  will  speak  of  the  supply  of  that  need  which 
the  Gospel  makes  known,  in  a  way  that  will  commend  Chris- 
tianity to  those  in  whom  the  feeling  of  the  need  which  it 
meets  has  been  quickened. 

That  our  life  consists  in  the  abundance  of  the  things . 
which  we  possess  seems  to  me  increasingly  the  practical 
faith  of  our  generation ;  and  hence  the  indifference  with 
which  men  are  listened  to  who  insist  that  this  is  not  so;  that 
life  lies  in  God's  favour:  which  claim  for  the  favour  of  God 
— i.e.,  that  it  is  our  life, — is  the  more  easily  put  aside 
because  of  the  low  and  merely  selfish  grounds  on  which  the 
importance  of  that  favour  is  rested.  Whatever  maketh 
manifest  is  light.  Let  us  hold  fast  our  confidence  in  light ; 
our  confidence  that  light  is,  and  that  it  makes  7na7iifest, — 
coming  ourselves  under  the  power  of  light,  and  letting  it 
shine  through  us.  I  cannot  doubt  the  healing  virtue  of  what 
is  healing  my  own  spirit.  I  can  promise  another  that  from 
it  which  it  is  fulfilling  to  myself 


204  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Helensburgh,  April  2nd,  1868. 

This  room  and  its  outlook  recal  our  coming  here  from 
Kilcreggan  with  Mr.  Duncan.  This  is  of  course  but  one  of 
a  thousand  reminiscences  that  this  region  is  to  my  mental 
eye  inscribed  with  all  over.  How  very  thankful  I  should  be 
that  in  general  these  are  full  of  felt  goodness,  even  those  of 
them  that  are  records  of  the  trying  latter  portion  of  my  Row 
life,  when  popularity  and  praises  for  zealous  labours  gave 
place  to  suspicions  and  ultimately  charges  of  heresy,  and  a 
hiding  from  one  of  many  countenances ;  but  at  the  same 
time  the  beaming  of  an  intense  sympathy  and  love  from 
others. 

It  was  a  marvellous  time  ;  and  although  the  less  than  six 
years  passed  here  seem  as  if  they  had  been  my  life,  in  so  far 
as  a  man's  life  is  recorded  in  the  fulfilment  of  a  mission  to 
this  world,  yet  neither  would  I  limit  my  mission  to  what  my 
preaching  here  fulfilled,  or  think  of  my  writing,  or  even  of 
my  living,  as  no  part  of  my  witnessing  for  God  to  men.  But 
it  was  a  wonderful  time,  these  five  years  and  a  half  out  of 
the  sixty-eight  that  I  have  been  on  this  earth, — will  have 
been  if  I  see  the  fourth  of  May. 

I  see  your  life  is  becoming  more  and  more  filled  with 
work.  All  right  work,  rightly  done,  is  part  of  a  man's 
mission  accomplished.  May  you,  beloved  son,  grow  in 
discernment  of  the  true  interest  of  all  that  you  are  called 
to  do. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  nth  April,  1868. 

I  enjoy  so  much  your  enjoyment  of  Venice,  and  look 
back  on  your  unconscious  preparation  for  it  with  the  feeling 
that  the  history  of  these  late  months  so  often  awakens — the 


1868-69.  RETROSPECT.  205 

commonplace  reflection  that  we  know  not  what  is  before  us  ; 
but  which  should  always  raise  our  thoughts  to  the,  alas  !  not 
so  common  reflection  that  He  knew  who  had  been  preparing 
us — preparing  us,  though  we  are  not  always  prepared  as  we 
might  have  been.  Yet  "  there  is  nothing  irremediable  with 
God,"  as  my  beloved  friend  Mr.  Erskine  loves  to  say.  And 
casting  ourselves  noiv  on  His  guidance,  while  confessing  our 
sin  in  that  we  are  so  much  more  unprepared  to  meet  the 
demand  of  the  present  hour  than,  with  the  right  and  full 
improvement  of  the  past,  we  would  have  been,  we  shall  find 
Him  now  ready  to  supply  all  our  need.  This  I  found  in  my 
early  Row  life,  when  the  demand  of  my  new  position  as  the 
pastor  of  a  people  often  sent  my  thoughts  back  on  many 
days  that  might  have  been  more  advantageously  employed 
in  reference  to  my  need  then  than  they  had  been.  This  you 
will  also  find — I  mean  God's  readiness  to  help  and  guide 
when  at  any  time  your  new  circumstances  will  be  making 
demands  on  you  which  at  least  Ruskin  cannot  have  pre- 
pared you  to  meet !  But  you  will  ask  for  wisdom  for  the 
present  hour  day  by  day  with  a  freedom  from  self-blame  that 
I  could  not  enjoy,  looking  back  on  time  bestowed  on  the 
study  of  Philosophy  and  Science  which  belonged  by  right 
to  Theology.  For  you  had  no  special  study  intended  to 
prepare  you  for  married  life.  So  I  rather  refer  to  my  own 
experience  as  the  minister  of  Row  because  of 'what  was  in  it 
of  finding  God  a  present  help  in  every  time  of  need,  than 
because  of  retrospect  which  I  have  and  you  have  not.  Also, 
it  has  since  come  to  pass  that  much  of  what  seemed  mis- 
spent time  to  me,  looking  back  under  the  pressure  of  my 
Row  cares,  has  since  yielded  good  fruit  in  the  meditation 
and  weighing  of  all  mental  excellence;  for  such  meditation 
has  been  latterly,  I  may  say,  an  unmistakeable  part  of  my 
calling. 


2o6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

17th  May,  1868. 

One  of  John's  rhododendrons  is  in  full  bloom  and  ex- 
ceedingly beautiful.  It  recals  (though  as  a  simple  flower 
may  a  bouquet)  the  vision  of  floral  beauty  which  I  enjoyed 
with  him  in  '62,  when  there  was  a  splendid  show  of  rhodo- 
dendrons and  azaleas  under  canvas  (in  the  Horticultural 
Gardens).  The  slope  at  one  end  of  the  large  square  tent 
was  all  one  continuous  surface  of  full-blown  white  flower — 
cm  yet  a  compatiy  of  plants — just  enough  apart  to  make  their 
individuality  perceptible;  but  one  in  their  effect,  as  the 
union  of  many  voices.  I  drank  in  their  beauty — as  pure 
water  of  life ;  only  it  rose  to  that  excellence  only  as  it 
became  to  my  mind's  eye  a  symbol  and  a  type,  bringing 
before  my  faith  the  heavenly  vision  of  the  words — 

"  How  bright  these  glorious  spirits  shine  ! 
Whence  all  their  white  array  ?" 

This  beautiful  and  glorious  result  in  nature  of  a  God-given 
capacity  of  beauty,  and  a  God-given  intelligence  which  had 
by  culture  developed  that  capacity  to  its  highest  perfection, 
spoke  to  me  of  the  divine  capabilities  of  spiritual  beauty  in 
us  as  spirits,  and  of  the  divine  culture  by  which  Christ 
develops  it — and  the  bright  result !  I  had  the  flowers  for 
a  text  and  John  for  an  audience ;  but  I  was,  I  may  say,  hear- 
ing more  than  I  was  speaking,  and  I  have  never  ceased  to 
hear  from  time  to  time  still  the  voice  of  these  glorious  plants 
— witnessing  for  God,  strengthening  faith ;  while  He  has 
been  seeking  the  realization  of  His  high  ideal  in  me  by 
dealings  with  me  only  to  be  welcomed  in  the  light  of  the 
purpose  of  His  love  ; — the  faith  the  victory  of  which  the 
answer  to  St.  John's  question  records,  Rev.  vii.  14.  Words- 
worth's daffodils,  in  "  flashing  on  that  inward  eye  which  is 
the  bliss  of  solitude,"  were  an  abiding  good  to  the  poet.  My 
rhododendrons  have  been  such  to  me. 


1868-69.  DOCTOR  OF  DIVINITY.  207 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  ist  May,  1868. 

A  Glasgow  Herald  vA\\c\\  I  post  with  this  tells  of  my  being 
made  a  D.D.  by  my  Alma  Afater,  and  in  the  leading  article 
very  beautifully  expresses  what  I  am  thankful — while  deeply 
humbled — to  meet  as  the  feeling  with  which  this  act  of  the 
Senatus  is  received.  And  to-day  at  the  College,  having 
accompanied  Sir  William  Thomson  to  the  Professors'  room, 
I  met  a  welcome  of  cordial  congratulation  which  it  was  trying 
to  bear ;  and  this,  not  from  those  only  who  previously  knew 
me,  but  also  from  some  who  got  introduced  to  me  that  they 
might  express  their  feelings. 

I  have  had  our  father,  our  brother,  and  Mr.  Story  most 
on  my  mind  since  I  received  the  official  communication  from 
the  University,  and  while  I  have  been  hearing  so  much  that 
made  it  as  satisfactory  as  it  could  be.  You  will  understand 
that  my  thankfulness  is  on  higher  than  personal  grounds. 
God  has  taught  me  not  to  lay  undue  weight  on  any  testimony 
of  man.  But  in  so  far  as  this  is  an  acknowledgement  that 
may  be  received  as  some  response  to  my  teaching,  I  feel 
that  I  can  be  rightly  thankful. 

When  he  wrote  the  following  letter,  Mr.  Campbell  had 
just  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Story,  which  had  reference 
to  a  dinner  which  was  to  take  place  in  Edinburgh  in  celebra- 
tion of  Dr.  Wylie's  jubilee.  It  was  proposed  that  at  the 
dinner  there  should  be  a  special  toast  to  the  health  of  Mr. 
Erskine  and  Dr.  Campbell;  and  Mr.  Story  wrote  to  ask 
whether  Dr.  Campbell  would  reply  to  the  toast :  hence  this 
letter  to  Mr.  Erskine. 

Laurel  Bank,  2nd  May,  1868. 

Beloved  Friend, — I  enclose  a  note  from  Robert  Story, 
to  which  I  cannot  give  an  answer  until  I  hear  from  you  ;  for, 


2o8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

if  you  consent  to  do  so,  it  will  be  much  better  every  way 
that  you  should  reply,  not  I.  You  are  (not  to  speak  of 
anything  else)  the  older  friend  as  well  as  the  older  man, 
and  had  a  name  in  theology  when  I  was  yet  a  student  of 
Divinity.  But,  what  is  most  important,  I  know  you  will 
do  it  best. 

You  said  forty  years  ago,  when  some  one's  being  made  a 
D.D.  was  mentioned,  "They  will  not  make  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity  of  Mr.  Campbell."  If  prophesying  were  an  en- 
lightened forecasting  of  the  future,  as  some  define  it,  you 
were  likely  to  have  proved  a  true  prophet.  But  I  trust  that 
good  beyond  our  hope  then — at  least  expectation — is  the 
explanation  of  the  failure  of  your  prophesying.  Dr.  Scott, 
to  whom  his  sister  had  sent  a  Herald  of  Thursday,  writes : 
"  The  University  of  Glasgow  have  done  what  in  them  lies  to 
reverse  the  sentence  of  the  General  Assembly  of  some  forty 
years  ago  :  a  leisurely  repentance  of  a  hasty  deed ;  but  one 
which  acquires  all  the  greater  value  from  the  delay,  inasmuch 
as  it  may  be  regarded  as  in  so  far  giving  an  imprimatur  to 
the  maturest  expression  of  your  thoughts."  He  adds  :  "  I 
consider  the  degree  thus  conferred  upon  you  as  a  really 
characteristic  expression,  quite  different  in  import  from  the 
same  title  bestowed  in  ordinary  circumstances."  This 
accords  with  what  I  have  been  venturing  to  feel, — and, 
feeling,  have  been  able  to  give  thanks. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

I  feel,  my  beloved  John,  quite  overcome  by  this  turn  of 
the  tide  of  feeling  in  Scotland  towards  me  and  my  teaching. 
Indeed,  by  the  evidence  which  Dr.  Caird's  letter  to  Bishop 
Ewing  contains,  it  has  beeji  for  some  time  turned.  Mamma 
and  I  are  having  a  nice  quiet  time  together.  She  does  not 
give  me  so  much  of  herself  in  reading  to  me  or  in  walking 
with  me  when  she  can  hand  me  over  to  any  of  you,  and 


1868-69.  I)R-   WYLIE'S  JUBILEE.  209 

betake  herself  to  household  matters.     Of  course  these  are 
simpler  when  we  two  are  the  whole  family. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  3rd  May,  1868. 

I  cannot  resist  sending  you  this  beautiful  and  characteris- 
tic letter  from  Dr.  Scott.  I  am  allowing  myself  the  comfort 
of  seeing  my  D.D.  degree  as  he  sees  it.  Not  that  I  at  all 
imagine  that  what  was  rejected  in  1831  is  intelligently  and 
in  its  totality  accepted  now  ;  but  that  at  least  some  of  it  is, 
and  in  God's  good  time  more  will  be.  Dr.  Wylie  was  not 
quite  satisfied  with  the  paragraph  in  the  Herald,  as  my  Row 
teaching  is  to  his  mind  my  best  teaching.  And  so  it  was 
in  some  respects ;  but  I  know  that  what  Dr.  Scott  calls  my 
"  matured "  teaching  is  an  advance,  and  has  the  special 
advantage  of  doing  more  justice  to  what  others  have 
taught. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Partick,  24th  April,  1S68. 

On  Monday  I  am  to  go  to  Carluke  for  a  couple  of  nights, 
where  I  am  thankful  I  shall  see  my  friend  Dr.  Wylie  mar- 
vellously got  over  his  accident.  He  is  to  have  his  jubilee, 
or  50th  anniversary  of  his  induction  to  Carluke,  celebrated 
on  the  25th  of  May  by  a  dinner  from  and  of  his  friends,  in 
Edinburgh.  I  agreed  to  be  of  the  entertaining  party,  and 
I  find  they  have  put  me  down  as  a  "  steward."  I  am  in  good 
company,  Mr.  Erskine,  &c. ;  but  it  is  a  prominence  which  I 
have  not  desired ;  though  no  one  there  will  have  a  warmer 
feeling  to  Dr.  Wylie.  But  I  seem  in  many  ways  to  be  in  my 
old  age  brought  before  the  public  in  a  way  that  in  my  life 
hitherto  I  have  not  known.  I  ought  to  be  thankful  that  at 
least  on  the  ground  of  health  I  have  no  excuse,  and  having 

VOL.  II.  O 


2IO  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

in  some  sense  broken  the  ice  in  Norman's  case,  I  cannot  say, 
"  I  never  take  part  in  such  things." 

29th  May,  1868. 

I  am  just  home  from  Edinburgh,  where  I  have  been  since 
Monday  Mr.  Erskine's  guest. 

I  went  in  to  attend  Dr.  Wylie's  jubilee  dinner.  We  send 
you  a  paper  of  the  next  morning.  You  will  be  much 
pleased  with  Robert  Story's  most  happy  speech ;  and  he 
spoke  it  most  effectively. 

Dr.  Wylie's  speech  was  long,  and  the  report  the  paper's 
own  as  he  had  not  Avritten  it  out.  It  was  effective  and 
suited  to  his  position,  which  called  for  a  good  deal  of  personal 
allusion.  The  first  part  was  suggested  by  the  Chairman's^ 
minute  reference  to  the  intimacy  of  his  own  family  (his 
father,  mother,  and,  I  think,  grandmother)  with  Dr.  Wylie ; 
and  then  Mr.  Erskine's  presence  gave  him  an  opportunity  of 
speaking  of  Mr.  Erskine's  brother,  in  whose  time  he  had  been 
for  six  months  at  Linlathen  reading  with  Mrs.  James  Erskine's 
brother.  I  was  thankful  for  this  touching  of  a  chord  which 
always  vibrates  intense  feeling  in  Mr.  Erskine,  whose  memory 
of  his  brother  is  a  very  sacred  thing. 

We  send  you  also  the  Scotsman  of  to-day  with  Norman's 
speech.  His  reception  in  the  General  Assembly  has  been 
quite  an  ovation.  Professor  Shairp  came  direct  from  the 
Assembly  Hall  to  Mr.  Erskine's  to  tell  him  of  it,  and  I 
shared  in  hearing  his  report.  I  did  not  venture  to  risk  the 
fatigue  and  excitement  that  I  knew  it  would  be  to  be  pre- 
sent. Indeed  I  gave  my  visit  all  to  Mr.  Erskine,  and  spared 
myself  in  the  prospect  of  going  up  to  Manchester  next 
week.  "  Mr.  Maurice  is  to  be  there  to  distribute  the  prizes 
at  Owen's  College,  and  is  to  be  the  guest  of  Mr.  Houlds- 
worth ;  and  they  have  all  wished  to  have  me  to  meet  Mr. 
Maurice,  which  of  course  is  quite  to  my  own  mind. 
1  The  Chairman  m  as  Mr.  Baillie  Cochrane,  M.  P. 


1868-69.  MAURICE  AND  SCOTT.  211 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  13th  May,  1868. 

I  am  glad  to  have  had  these  two  days  with  you  at  the 
Rouken.  I  find  it  so  much  more  easy  to  speak  than  to 
write  that  I  am  thankful  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
saying  to  you  something  of  what  I  have  been  thinking  on 
the  great  subjects  of  present  theological  and  ecclesiastical 
discussion ;  although  on  the  latter  I  have  less  consciousness 
of  any  clear  light.  What  I  was  desirous  to  express  was  my 
conviction  that  no  theory — whether  of  apostolic  succession 
or  anything  else — can  affect  our  liberty  or  our  responsibility  in 
listening  to  teaching,  or  justify  our  acceptance  of  teaching  on 
any  lower  ground  than  that  in  God's  light  we  see  light. 

To  esteem  this  the  expression  of  a  hard  necessity — feeling 
it  a  relief  to  be  excused  from  it — is  to  my  mind  what  belongs 
to  that  selling  of  our  birth-right  as  God's  offspring  to  which 
we  are  alas  !  so  often  tempted. 

I'o  his  Eldest  Son. 

Wilton  Polygon,  Manchester,  9th  June,  1S68. 

.  .  .  Mr.  Maurice  came  yesterday  as  he  was  expected 
to  do ;  but  he  left  for  Cambridge  early  to-day.  We  were 
however  a  good  while  with  him  at  Oakhill ;  from  about  four 
to  half-past  ten,  including  from  half-past  seven  to  half-past 
nine  at  the  Prize  Distribution.  He  began  his  address  with 
a  beautiful  tribute  to  Mr.  Scott,  whom  he  called  their  "  first 
Principal:"  assuming  that  he  owed  the  invitation  to  come 
here  at  this  time  to  his  connection  with  him  ;  and  saying  how 
much  he  owed  him,  and  what  a  part  he  had  had  in  his 
menta:l  education,  &c. 

The  reference  to  dear  Scott  was  cordially  responded  to  by 
the  audience  ;  and  also  by  the  gentleman  who  proposed  the 


2  12  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Maurice ;  but  he  added  that  he  must 
not  in  proposing  such  a  vote  omit  noticing  Mr.  Maurice's 
other  claims  on  a  place  in  their  regards ;  referring  to  his 
devotion  to  the  enlightening  of  the  people  :  which  of  course 
was  specially  a  reason  why  he  should  be  asked  to  distribute 
the  prizes  awarded  to  students  of  the  class  that  attended  the 
Evening  Lectures  at  Owen's  College. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

The  Lye  Parsonage,  15th  June,  1868. 

.  •  .  I  came  here  on  Thursday.  On  Friday  I  accom- 
panied Mr.  Robertson  and  his  curates  to  Kidderminster,  to 
hear  the  Bishop's  Triennial  Visitation  Charge.  Donald  in- 
troduced me  to  the  Vicar,  Mr.  Boyle  ;  and  he  asked  me  to 
dine  with  him  to-day  to  meet  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Vaughan.  So 
to-day  I  accompany  Mr.  Robertson  and  Donald  to  this  din- 
ner ;  and  to-morrow  I  go  to  Leicester. 

...  I  heard  yesterday  D.  in  the  morning  and  Mr.  Robert- 
son in  the  evening,  and  liked  them  both.  I  have  been  to 
their  Sunday  Schools,  and  to-day  to  their  day  schools  ;  and 
the  buildings,  staff  of  teachers,  and  attendance,  all  gave  me 
pleasure.  So  when  I  look  on  all  that  here  represents  the 
Church  of  England,  the  feeling  is  deepened  with  which  I 
repel  the  thought  of  its  being  all  abolished.  We  are,  I 
understand,  on  the  verge  of  the  Black  Country ;  but  all  I 
see  here  of  country,  and  all  I  drove  through  on  Friday,  is 
very  beautiful ;  undulating,  bearing  rich  crops  (if  we  can 
call  them  rich  before  they  become  golden),  and  a  consider- 
able sprinkling  of  trees  and  wooded  heights, 

20tli  June. 
This  visit  to  England,  and  that  review  in  the  Times ^\iZ.vQ 
still  more  and  more  deepened  my  sense  of  the  need  of  being 
^  A  Review  of  the  NaU^-e  of  the  Atonement  and  Ecce  Homo. 


1868-69.  CHURCH  PROSPECTS.  213 

quick  to  hear,  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  speak,  though 
slowly,  right  words. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  5th  July,  1S68. 

.  .  .  Have  you  at  Lye  this  volume  of  essays  on  the 
Church  of  the  future  or  rather  the  near  future  of  the  Church  ? 
On  higher  than  any  mere  selfish  or  caste  grounds  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  present  generation  of  Churchmen  to  consider 
how  they  may  best  cause  the  nation  to  know  what  they 
possess  in  the  Church,  and  how  it  is  worth  more  to  them 
(the  nation)  than  any  probable  product  of  Voluntaryism 
could  be.  How  far  these  essays  deal  with  this  question 
wisely  the  notice  of  them  in  the  Spectator  is  not  enough  to 
enable  me  to  judge.  My  friend  D.  Vaughan's  discourse 
deals  with  a  part  of  the  subject  in  a  way  new  to  me,  and 
worthy  of  consideration.  I  do  hope  that  Churchmen  will  be 
straightforward  and  get  the  credit  of  being  so.  How  slow 
we  all  are  to  realize  that  truth  alone  is  important — our  one 
interest  ! 

Parkhill,  20th  July,  1868. 

I  have  been  too  busy  to  tell  what  I  have  been 
doing.  At  Linlathen  Mr.  Erskine  had  most  of  my  time,  and 
the  rest  was  claimed  by  others.  I  went  to  St.  Andrews  on 
the  Wednesday,  and  was  there  till  Friday.  Mr.  Shairp's 
rooms  being  occupied  all,  I  was  put  up  at  Hone's  Hall  for  the 
first  night ;  but  some  one  leaving,  was  the  second  night  at 
Shairp's.  ...  I  enjoyed  my  intercourse  with  Mr.  Shairp 
very  much.  He  is  one  of  the  few  that  I  have  found  entering 
as  much  into  the  retrospective  relation  of  the  Atonement  as 
into  its  prospective  aspect.  You  will  be  glad  to  learn  that 
Macmillan  has  written  for  authority  to  engage  the  printer  in 
the  preparation  of  a  third  edition,  140  only  of  the  second 


214  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xni. 

edition  now  remaining  on  hand.     He  reminds  me  also  of  my 
promise  as  to  the  Bread  of  Life.     .     .     . 

My  much  loved  Mr.  Erskine  was  in  one  respect  better  in 
that  he  sleeps  better ;  but  his  inability  to  walk  (beyond  a 
turn  in  the  garden)  indicates  failure  more  than  anything  else. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  August. 
My  darling  Jeannie, — To-morro^y  is  your  birthday. 
"  Whence  are  we  ?  "  "  Whither  are  we  going  ?  "  "  Why  are 
we  here?"  In  proportion  as  we  rise  to  the  right  use  of 
intelligence  these  questions  have  an  ever  deepening  interest. 
And  the  light  which  He  Avho  has  given  us  a  being  has  been 
pleased  to  shed  on  them,  becomes  more  and  more  acknow- 
ledged as  the  light  of  life.  Your  need  of  that  light,  its  practical 
importance  to  you,  has  been  greatly  added  to  since  I  last 
\\ashed  you  many  happy  returns  of  your  birthday.  A  new 
relation  bringing  deeper  joys,  graver  responsibilities — a  need 
of  divine  teaching  and  guidance  altogether  special — has 
become  yours ;  and  is,  I  trust,  so  lived  in  by  you,  as  to  be 
yielding  to  you  the  rich  good  which  God  has  put  in  it.  The 
thought  of  that  new  relation  I  feel  giving  a  new  form  to  my 
birthday  wishes  for  you;  your  life  now  seen  as  entwined  with 
that  of  another,  causing  my  desire  that  you  may  be  good  and 
please  God  to  be  now  cherished  for  his  sake  as  well  as  for 
your  own.  ]\Iay  love  to  God  purify  and  sustain  your  love 
to  each  other — teaching  you  mutual  self-sacrifice,  as  love  to 
Him  alone  can  perfectly.  For  though  self-sacrifice  is  present 
in  all  true  love — is  indeed  of  its  essence— yet  it  is  only  in 
the  atmosphere  of  the  divine  love,  and  while  God,  by  the 
response  of  love  to  His  love  to  us,  is  becoming  the  centre  of 
our  being,  displacing  the  usurping  self — it  is  only  in  this 
divine  life  that  our  natural  affections  flourish  and  bloom  as  in 
their  proper  climate. 


1 868-69.  THE  EUCHARIST.  215 

The  land  and  sea  sleeping  in  bright  tranquillity  are  preach- 
ing to  you  to-day— whatever  other  voices  are  in  your  ears  : 
but  I  hope  that  something  is  being  ministered  to  you  to  aid 
your  own  thoughts  and  help  your  meditation,  while  nature 
speaks  so  eloquently  of  God. 


To  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Prichard. 

Partick,  Glasgow,  August  iStli,  1S6S. 

I  regret  not  having  been  able  sooner  to  acknowledge  your 
letter.     I  thank  you  for  writing  to  me  so  freely. 

I  do  not  see  that  the  teaching  of  my  little  book,^  and  the 
claim  you  make  for  the  Eucharist  as  a  symbol,  are  other  than 
quite  consistent ;  and  when  you  ask,  "  Is  there  need  of  so 
strong  a  line  of  separation  between  the  word  and  the  sym- 
bol ?  Are  they  not  both  the  Word?  that  is,  the  Truth,  which 
is  in  the  one  case  presented  to  the  mind  through  printed 
letters,  or  the  sound  of  a  human  voice,  in  the  other  through 
the  visible  symbol;" — I  can  only  answer  in  the  affirmative. 
Indeed,  instead  of  intending  to  mark  "a  strong  line  of 
separation,"  my  feeling  has  been  that  I  was  claiming  an 
identity.  More,  I  tliink  I  sympathize  with  you  as  to  the 
divine  excellence  of  the  symbol  as  condensed  truth ;  and, 
this  conception  being  consistently  adhered  to,  I  see  no  risk 
of  the  substituting  for  truth  that  which  conveys  it,  or  of  an 
asking  for  the  Eucharist  a  faith  which  is  not  the  one  faith  of 
Christ.  But  this  is  what  I  believe  all  wrong  hearing  of  the 
words  "  This  is  my  body  "  does. 

I  am  not  sure  how  I  am  to  understand  your  Avords  in  say- 
ing, "  The  Eucharist  is  a  solemn  renewal  on  the  part  of  God, 
to  the  faithful,  of  His  Covenant  in  Christ, — an  act  of  His  as 
well  as  of  ours."     Is  not  such  renewal  implicitly  present  in 

1  Christ  the  Bread  of  Life. 


2i6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

all  the  pulsations  of  the  life  of  faith?  Is  there  not  in  all 
serving  of  the  living  God  "  an  act  of  His,  as  well  as  of  ours"? 
(Hebrews  ix.  14.) 

As  to  the  place  of  the  will  in  our  feeding  on  Christ  as 
the  "  Bread  of  Life,"  the  distinction  in  this  view  between  the 
successive  movements  of  our  being  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  the  life  of  faith,  and  that  movement  of  our  being  which  is 
present  in  "  communicating  worthily,"  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
distinction  between  accepting  the  will  of  God  as  the  drawing 
of  His  Spirit,  moment  by  moment,  in  relation  to  the  circum- 
stances in  which  Ave  are  obeying,  in  their  ever  varying 
aspects,  and  accepting  the  whole  will  of  God  concerning  us 
in  Christ  Jesus,  as  that  is  present  to  our  spirits,  beholding 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  you  will 
understand  how  there  is  no  word  in  your  letter  with  Avhich  I 
have  more  entire  sympathy  than  Avhen  you  say  :  "  One  bless- 
ing of  the  Eucharist  seems  to  me  that  it  is  the  means  of 
giving  us  that  repose  of  faith  in  God's  love,  and  in  Christ's 
presence,  which  supplies  power  to  the  (sometimes  strained 
and  jaded)  will." 

I  think  you  will  understand  the  precise  nature  of  my 
jealousy  as  to  all  uses  of  symbols  which  make  them  an  addi- 
tion to  rather  than  a  declaration  of  the  truth  which  they  sym- 
bolize, when  I  say  this  error  arises  as  to  Baptism  when  Bap- 
tism divides  our  confidence  with  the  name  into  which  we  are 
baptized, —  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and 
arises  as  to  the  Communion  when  it  divides  our  confidence 
with  Christ. 

I  have  no  light  to  offer  on  the  subject  of  your  postscript. 
I  see  no  warrant  for  believing  in  a  special  relation  of  the 
Eucharist  to  the  Resurrection.  Such  an  inference  from  John 
vi.  could  only  be  justified  by  the  Romanist  assumption,  that 
our  Lord's  teaching  there  has  direct  reference  to  the  Euchar- 
ist ;  which  idea  I  understand  you  to  reject  as  I  do.  But 
apart  from  the  subject  of  the  Eucharist,  the  question  may  be 


1868-69.  THE  REIGN  OF  LAW.  217 

raised  as  to  the  results  to  the  body  now  from  our  relation  to 
Christ.  I  have  indeed  been  accustomed  to  read  the  words, 
"  Who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned 
like  unto  his  glorious  body  "  (Phil.  iii.  21),  as  postponing  the 
expectation  of  the  gain  to  the  body  from  our  relation  to 
Christ,  to  the  Resurrection. 

I  can  scarcely  offer  any  remark  in  reference  to  your  young 
friend's  difficulty  in  regard  to  the  concluding  page  of  the 
"  Introduction."^  For  I  am  not  able  to  understand  a  recog- 
nition of  an  answer  to  prayer  which  does  not  rise  above  a 
reign  of  law,  in  contemplating  God's  relation  to  us.  If  all 
that  your  friend  feels  is,  that  in  answering  prayer  God  uses 
the  reign  of  law,  I  have  no  light  to  enable  me  to  accept  or 
reject  this  proposition.  My  faith  in  prayer  is  a  faith  that 
God  does  that  which  He  does  in  answer  to  prayer  because 
He  is  asked  to  do  it.  It  is  not  at  all  a  faith  as  to  Jiow  He 
does  it.  But  I  confess  that  I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  rising  to 
the  conception  of  God  as  God  unless  I  rise  above  law  to  the 
acting  of  God  in  giving  existence  to  laze.  This  I  feel  even 
not  going  beyond  Theism,  and  apart  from  the  subject  of 
miracles  and  piayer. 

To  the  Rev.  F.  D.  ]\Iaurice. 

Laurel  Bank,  17th  September,  1868. 

My  dear  Mr.  Maurice, — I  know  that  you  know  from 
]\Iiss  Wedgwood  that  our  dear  Mr.  Erskine  has  been 
unwell.  I  went  to  him  last  Saturday,  and  remained  with 
him  till  Tuesday.  I  found  him  better  than  he  had  been ; 
and  he  continued  better  while  I  was  with  him  :  and  I  had 
the  comfort  of  leaving  him  looking  somewhat  stronger.     He 

1  i.e.  The  Introduction  to  the  Second  Edition  of  the  book  on  the 
Atonement.  The  friend  referred  to  held  that  ' '  neither  answers  to 
prayer  nor  miracles  are  instances  of  dinri  action  on  God's  part,"  but 
"that  God  always  acts  (so  far  as  we  know)  through  means  and  laws." 


2i8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

knows  the  love  that  is  dealing  with  hira.  He  is  thankful 
no7(.i  for  this  knowledge ;  and  I  doubt  not  will  hereafter  give 
thanks  for  a  fruit  of  gain  to  his  spirit.  I  know  that  your 
love  to  him  will  make  in  reference  to  him  the  command, 
"  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,"  what,  when  it  rises  to 
your  memory,  your  heart  will  have  anticipated. 

I  am  reading  your  lectures  on  Conscience  with  much 
interest  and  I  may  add  thankfulness:  only  I  am  only  in  the 
fifth  lecture,  and  so  do  not  yet  know  how  much  I  have  to 
be  thankful  foi'.  I  read  slowly  now.  Let  me  thank  you 
much  for  your  mindfulness  of  me  when  you  speak  through 
the  press.  Have  the  kindness  to  remember  me  to  Mrs. 
Maurice  and  to  Edmund. — Your  affectionate  friend, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell, 

To  his  Youngest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  i6th  December,  1868. 

You  are  taken  earlier  and  more  entirely  from  under 
the  parental  eye  than  we  had  anticipated.  But  I  trust  not 
before  you  have  learned  with  some  measure  of  true  faith 
to  realize  your  higher  parentage,  and  feel  ever  under  the  eye 
of  the  Father  of  your  spirit,  the  expression  of  whose  coun- 
tenance towards  you  is  ever  according  to  the  aspect  of  your 
spirit  towards  Him — I  mean  the  expression  of  His  coun- 
tenance as  giving  or  withholding  favour  and  love  as  that 
implies  favour;  yet  not  love  as  that  is  of  the  very  essence  of 
fatherliness,  and  in  the  Divine  Fatherliness  infinite.  The 
Son  who  dwells  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  reveals  the 
Father  to  us,  both  as  saying,  "  My  son,  be  wise  and  make 
mine  heart  glad,"  and  thus  inviting  you  to  find  life  in  His 
favour;  and  also,  because  of  your  need  of  mercy  and  tender 
long-suffering,  showing  you  the  deep  fountain  of  the  Love 
which  invites  you  to  the  life  that  is  in  love  (for  on  love 


1868-69.  A  CHRISTMAS  LETTER.  219 

alone  the  divine  favour  rests):  showing  you,  I  say,  that  deep 
eternal  fountain  in  the  love  which  "  commends  itself,  in  that 
while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us."  It  is  one 
and  the  same  love  which  grieves  overman's  sins  and  rejoices 
over  man's  turning  from  sin  to  holiness. 

My  own  dear  boy  !  how  my  heart  yearns  over  you  with  a 
yearning  which  I  know  is  in  me  only  as  an  earthen  vessel, 
but  which  is  filling  me  from  the  Eternal  Fountain  of  love  ! 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  26th  December,  1S6S. 

I  intended  to  write  to  you  on  Christmas  day,  and  to 
express  to  you  some  of  the  thoughts  which  were  welling  up 
in  me,  meditating  on  the  great  event  in  the  history  of 
humanity  that  "unto  us  was  born  a  Saviour:" — that  birth 
which  is  the  hope  in  all  births, — the  promise  which  bears 
the  weight  of  all  right  wishes  for  ourselves  and  others.  But, 
as  I  have  found  it  before,  much  thinking  and  feeling, 
blended  with  liftings  up  of  the  heart  for  those  that  were 
occupying  my  thoughts  and  moving  my  heart,  left  a  kind  of 
exhaustion  that  disinclined  and  indeed  unfitted  for  writing ; 
and  my  purpose  passed  away  unrealized. 

I  had  sent  a  brief  expression  of  the  wishes  proper  to  the 
season  to  my  James — for  himself  and  the,  I  doubt  not, 
joyous  Christmas  party  of  which  dearest  Flora's  kindness 
made  him  one.  But  how  much  was  there  coming  and  going 
of  thoughts, — of  memories,  hopes,  thanksgivings, — in  which 
I  w^ould  have  your  sympathy  were  they  but  uttered  to  you  ! 
One  of  the  Port-Royal  devoted  servants  of  the  Lord  said  to 
another,  who  urged  him  to  take  some  rest  from  his  incessant 
labours,  "Rest,  brother!  Have  we  not  all  eternity  to  rest 
in  ? "  A  zeal,  it  may  be,  that  was  wanting  in  knowledge. 
Sometimes,  when  having  little  opportunity  of  communion,  I 
am  disposed  to  say  to  myself,  "  The  time  for  much  as  well 


2  20  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

as  high  communion  is  to  come."  But  by  that  coming  time 
how  different  will  so  much  of  what  now  interests  us  look  to 
us !  How  will  the  new  true  light  of  the  divine  purpose,  and 
knowledge  of  the  path  in  which  our  God  was  leading  us, 
change  the  aspect  of  the  things  which  may  have  befallen  us ! 
Shall  we  not  be  found  asking  others  to  join  in  our  thanks- 
givings as  to  much  in  regard  to  which  we  had  felt  that  we 
had  a  claim  for  sympathy  ?  "  Lord,  increase  our  faith  ! " 
May  He  increase  our  faith  as  to  all  divine  realities ;  more 
especially  as  to  the  wise  love  in  which  we  are  led  by  a  path 
which  we  know  not  to  a  city  of  habitation. 

To  his  Youngest  Son. 

Tartick,  l6th  January,  1869. 

My  dearest  Robert, — I  greet  you  on  the  Sunday 
morning,  with  the  special  interest  of  which  I  am  most 
associated  in  your  mind.  Not  indeed  that  it  has  been  my 
way  to  preach  much  to  my  children  :  but  that  1  know  that 
you  all  feel  your  eternal  life  to  be  that  to  which  my  deepest 
interest  in  you  belongs ;  with  which,  therefore,  I  am  most 
expected  to  occupy  my  letters,  leaving  other  topics  for  other 
home  correspondents.  My  impression  is  that  the  interest 
of  church  will,  as  you  are  now  placed,  be  the  service,  not 
the  sermon;  and  I  shall  be  thankful  if  the  use  of  these 
beautiful  prayers  be  the  means  of  developing  in  you  a  sense 
of  the  blessedness  of  true  prayer.  This  we  come  to  know 
when  the  saying  of  prayers  passes  from  being  a  duty  dis- 
charged to  being  a  privilege  enjoyed.  A  good  liturgy, 
iurnishing  right  desires  rightly  moulded  into  requests  to 
God,  leaves  to  be  supplied  by  ourselves  only  the  spirit  of 
prayer;  which  is  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  us,  and  our  adding  of 
which  is  in  truth  our  yielding  to  a  drawing  which  it  is  our 
part  to  welcome  and  yield  to. 

I  do  not  speak  of  a  mechanical  or  physical  drawing.    The 


1868-69.      OXENHAM  ON  THE  ATONEMENT.         221 

cords  employed  are  light  and  love,  and  the  manifest  meet- 
ness  for  us  of  the  feeling  to  which  these  move  us.  The 
confessions  are  meet  for  us  to  make.  The  requests  are 
meet  for  us  to  address  to  the  Hearer  of  prayer.  We  are 
therefore  to  suffer  our  hearts  to  take  their  mould.  Doing 
so,  we  are  breatliing  the  higher  life — and  feel  that  it  is  the 
higher — and  our  desire  is  to  breathe  it  more  freely,  and  this 
we  gradually  come  to  do  more  and  more.  If  this  is  but  a 
broken  experience — if  our  thoughts  often  wander,  as  they 
will  do,  let  not  this  discourage.  The  divine  life  has  its 
infancy- — the  lisping  of  babes.  Let  us  rather  be  thankful  for 
any  prayer  felt  to  be  such,  and  hope  that  the  proportion  of 
real  prayer  will  always  be  more  and  more. 


To  /lis  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  17th  February,  1869. 

I  was  intending  to  say  to  you  that  Oxenham  has  sent 
me  a  copy  of  the  second  edition  of  his  Catholic  Doctrine 
of  the  Atonement ;  and  that  there  is  a  good  deal  in  reference 
to  my  book  in  the  preface. 

He  is  very  fair  and  courteous.  But  we  start  from  points 
so  apart  from  each  other  that  it  would  not  be  easy  to  show 
him  our  relative  position,  though  I  think  I  myself  see  it 
clearly. 

The  note  which  I  have  withheld,  after  it  was  nearly  ready 
for  this  new  edition  of  the  Bread  of  Life,  is  on  the  "Euchar- 
istic  Sacrifice  ; "  the  exact  conception  of  which  held  by  the 
Church  of  Rome  I  had  not  quite  understood  until  now.  I 
understood  the  Reformers  to  have  objected  to  it  as  a  denial 
of  the  adequacy  and  perfection  of  the  Sacrifice  on  the  Cross, 
as  being  itself  z.  further  sacrifice.  I  see  that  it  is  represented 
as  the  same  sacrifice  continued ;  ("  in  a  mystery^''  which  pre- 
cludes all  idea  of  discovering  the  alleged  identity  ;)  but  it  is 


222  ■  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

held  to  be— and  it  is  faith  with  them  to  accept  it  as — 
identical.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  assertion  of  identity 
has  been  the  mode  of  thought  always  ;  or  whether  it  has 
been  adopted  to  meet  the  allegation  that  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Cross  was  depreciated.  I  do  not  think,  even  if  the  idea  of 
mystery  were  enough  to  cover  all  it  is  used  to  cover,  that  the 
difficulty  of  the  Reformers  would  be  removed:  but  I  think, 
if  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  Atonement  in  relation  to  the 
taking  away  of  sin  the  Reformers  had  added  the  true 
conception  of  Christian  worship,  as  seen  in  the  light  of 
our  relation  to  Christ  as  made  an  High  Priest  "  after 
the  power  of  an  endless  life,"  and  so  had  seen  the 
oneness  of  worship  in  Christ  and  in  Christians,  they 
would  have  met  the  claim  of  the  mass  to  be  the  necessary 
complement  of  worship  more  perfectly.  .  .  .  I  more  and 
more  see  that  it  is  the  very  "  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ " 
that  Christianity  is  the  mind  and  life  of  Christ  reproduced  in 
us,  through  knowing  Him  and  abiding  in  Him  as  our  life  : 
that  mind  and  life  both  in  its  Godward  and  in  its  manward 
aspect ; — the  former  of  course  including  worship.  This  was 
the  salvation  known  at  the  beginning.  See  the  Epistles 
passim. 

I  have  had  the  pamphlet  by  Ffoulkes,  lately  noticed  in  the 
Spectator,  sent  to  me.  It  is  very  interesting  as,  I  hope,  a 
specimen  of  what  many  may  be  feeling  :  Yet  it  is  to  be 
valued  for  what  it  may  come  to  be,  not  for  anything  it  yet  is. 
As  to  the  craving  for  union  which  animates  him,  nothing 
could  be  more  deceptive  than  such  union  were  it  attained. 
They  are  one  already  so  far  as  they  are  in  Christ.  That 
oneness  rightly  valued  will  grow.  But  the  oneness  for  which 
he  is  labouring,  if  spread  over  Christendom,  would  only  hide 
the  lack  of  the  true  oneness,  and  give  the  name  without  the 
reality. 


1868-69.  LACORDAIRE.  223 

26th  February. 

.  .  .  I  do  not  know  whether  I  have  mentioned  my 
being  reading  the  Afevioirs  of  Lacordaire.  The  very  large 
type  was  an  attraction;  but  the  man  interested  me, 
and  the  combination  of  devotion  to  the  church  with 
much  pohtical  freedom  of  spirit.  I  must  have  been  in  Paris 
when  he  was  most  a  centre  of  interest ;  and  although  my 
scanty  French  would  have  hindered  my  appreciation  of  his 
eloquence,  I  regret  that  I  did  not  hear  him  preach.  What 
has  interested  me  most  is  the  fervid  expression  of  the  sense 
of  Christ's  love  ;  which  manifested  an  experience  of  the 
drawing  of  the  cords  of  a  living  love,  that  must  have  had  the 
chief  power  in  moulding  his  spirit.  And  this  he  would 
probably  have  himself  admitted,  while  he  built  so  much  on 
much  else. 


loth  Alarch,  1869. 

.  .  .  You  see  the  Spectator'' s  correspondents  are  keep- 
ing the  subject  of  the  "  Real  Presence  "  before  men ;  and 
these  notices  of  this  life  of  Keble  have  the  same  result. 
Both  that  by  Dean  Stanley,  and  this  in  last  Saturday's  Spec- 
tator, are  worth  reading.  The  latter  lets  one  more  into  the 
mind  of  Keble,  I  think,  Stanley's  mental  life  in  Church 
History  gives  him  a  kind  of  Catholicity,  which  I  confess  I 
sometimes  fear  may  belong  to  the  prefix  "  pseudo  : "  but  I 
check  the  thought.  But  there  is  no  doubt  Catholicity 
may  be  fed  by  dwelling  on  that  as  to  which  good  men  have 
differed  until  their  differences  lose  their  importance,  as  well 
as  by  dwelling  on  that  which  is  common  to  them,  and 
because  of  which  it  is  that  they  have  been  good  men  in  spite 
of  important  differences.  The  Catholicity  which  has  the 
latter  history  alone  is  really  sound;  keeping  ever  before  the 
mind  the  "  faith  which  worketh  by  love," — the  faith  which, 


224  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

purely  conceiving  the  love  of  God  to  one's  own  self  in  the 
truth  of  what  that  love  is,  tells  upon  one  according  to  that 
faith's  own  proper  power,  whatever  logical  contradictions 
are  involved  in  holding  that  personal  faith  in  combina- 
tion with  intellectual  misconceptions  of  the  relation  of  God 
to  man  as  man,  and  revealed  in  Christ. 

Leighton's  sense  of  sin  and  of  the  forgiveness  which  God 
was  extending  to  him  a  sinner,  and  of  the  excellence  of  the 
life  of  sonship  which  he  was  called  to  live  in  Christ,  had 
nothing  but  truth  in  it ;  and  worked  healthfully  on  his  spirit, 
with  a  power  proportioned  to  its  intensity; — determining 
the  character  of  his  intercourse  with  God,  I  believe,  just 
as  these  elements  of  faith  would  have  done  had  larger  con- 
ceptions of  the  grace  of  God  to  man  taken  the  place  of  his 
Calvinism. 

I  do  not  mean  that  such  an  intellectual  change  would  have 
been  no  gain  to  the  whole  man  morally  and  spiritually  as 
well  as  intellectually ;  but  even  in  these  respects  he  would 
have  rather  added  enlargement  of  vision  to  depth  of  feeling, 
than  have  really  learned  a  deeper  love  to  God  and  to  man; 
and  I  am  sure  as  to  both  these  aspects  of  the  eternal  life  of 
love,  his  intense  personal  piety  did  more  for  him  than  the 
most  enlightened  thoughts  could  have  done  combined  with 
less  intercourse  with  the  living  God. 

You  will  understand  that  the  deeper  foundation  for  Catho- 
licity for  which  I  am  jealous  is  the  perception  of  the  oneness 
of  the  divine  life,  in  whatever  combination  as  to  system  it  is 
found, — the  perception  of  that  oneness  to  which  we  attain 
through  knowledge  of  what  it  is,  and  of  the  conscious  per- 
sonal relation  to  God  by  which  it  is  sustained ;  which  per- 
ception is  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  superficial 
induction,  "  This  was  a  good  man,  and  that  was  a  good  man; 
and  their  views  differed  widely;  and  therefore  that  as  to 
which  they  differed  cannot  be  important."  You  may  connect 
what  I  have  now  attempted  to  express  with  a  reference  to 


1868-69.  JOHN  KEBLE.  225 

your  favourite  Leighton,  that  will  meet  you  near  the 
end  of  the  third  division  of  this  new  edition  of  the  Bread 
of  Life} 

One  of  my  suppressed  paragraphs  has  been  recalled  to  me 
by  what  the  Spectator  reviewer  says  of  the  recognition  of 
decay  which  was  in  Keble's  loving  adhesion  to  the  Anglican 
Church, — though,  as  compared  with  his  ideal,  a  ruin.  The 
words  "  that  to  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places 
might  be  known,  by  the  church,  the  manifold  wisdom  of 
God  "  come  before  me  in  connection,  on  the  one  hand,  with 
the  words,  "  Fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible 
as  an  army  with  banners  ;"  and  on  the  other  hand  with  the 
words, 

"  Thy  saints  take  pleasure  in  her  stones, 
Her  very  dust  to  them  is  dear. " 

The  "I  sit  a  queen  and  am  no  widow"  of  the  visible 
church  seemed  to  be  excused  by  the  former  words.  The 
feeling  to  which  I  was  myself  conscious  in  seeing  Chris- 
tianity in  its  ideal  in  Christ,  and  thinking  of  Christianity 
as  we  know  it  historically,  harmonized  more  with  the 
latter  passage ;  while,  as  to  the  words  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Ephesians,  I  felt,  and  felt  thankfully,  that  though  "  prin- 
cipalities and  powers  in  heavenly  places  "  might  not  see  the 
divine  ideal  realized  in  that  outward  expansion  and  power 
and  assumed  infallible  orthodoxy  so  gloried  in,  they  might 
see  it  in  the  multiplied  and  varied  reproduction  of  the  mind 
of  Christ  in  God's  "  hidden  ones ;"  the  number  of  whom  in 
these  eighteen  centuries  may  be  believed  to  have  been 
millions. 

As  to  Keble,  I  know  not  what  the  "sad  decay"  amounted 
to,  to  the  realization  of  which  he  was  patiently  submitting; 
or  whether  his  comfort  was  at  all  what  mine  is.  Most  pro- 
bably it  was  the  same  in  part;    but  it  has  probably  had 

^  Viz.,  at  page  179. 
VOL.  II.  P 


2  26  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

another  element,  and  that  other  element  may  have  been  the 
chief  one.  At  least  "  Baptism  "  may  have  been  a  comfort  to 
liim  other  than  it  is  to  me.  I  am  thinking  of  his  words 
when,  in  speaking  of  the  value  of  all  souls,  as  we  estimate 
that  value  in  the  light  of  the  death  of  Christ  for  all,  he  goes 
on  to  say  : — 

"But  chiefly  Christian  souls;  for  they, 
Though  worn  and  soiled  with  sinful  clay, 
Are  yet,  to  eyes  that  see  them  true, 
All  glistening  with  baptismal  dew." 

/  could  use  these  words  as  to  the  broken  life  of  Christ 
in  those  in  whom  in  measure  that  life  is  seen.  But  I 
think  he  uttered  the  conifort  of  a  faith  as  to  the  baptized 
even  when  it  was  not  "  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience 
towards  God,  through  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the 
dead." 

.  Think  of  having  been  to  see  my  grandchild, 
your  niece,  on  Friday,  and  no  mention  of  her  and  the 
pleasure  of  that  visit  all  this  time  !  She  is  a  sweet  grave  wee 
thing.  .  .  .  Mama  and  I  enjoyed  the  day  much,  and  I 
have  not  found  that  it  was  too  much  for  me.  We  came  away 
with  the  purpose  of  returning  for  a  visit  of  five  or  six  days  on 
Monday  first,  the  15th. 

To   Mr.  Erskine. 

Broom,  20th  March,  1869. 

My  beloved  Friend, — I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  send- 
ing you  a  copy  of  the  new  edition  of  the  little  volume 
Christ  the  Bread  of  Life,  which  was  my  first  attempt  to 
commend  Christianity  as  a  participation  in  the  mind  of 
Christ.  You  used  to  complain  of  the  type,  and  also  of  the 
abruptness  of  the  commencement.  The  former  objection 
you  would  find  quite  done  away  with  ;  and  I  hope  you  will 


s 868-69.  ''THE  BREAD  OF  LIFE!'  227 

feel,  also,  that  the  subject  is  now  approached  easily  and 
naturally.  I  have  added  a  third  head,  which  I  hope  will 
please  you,  so  far  as  it  goes  :  which,  indeed,  is  as  far  as 
the  title  of  the  book  promises.  But  the  aspect  of  the  mass 
lis  "  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross  continued  "  is  to  Romanists 
even  more  important  than  that  which  I  have  considered ; 
and  the  hope  of  being  helpful  to  them  caused  me  to  write  a 
good  deal  which  I  proposed  to  give  in  a  supplemental  note. 
I  was  not,  however,  able  to  satisfy  myself  with  the  effective 
ness  of  my  statement ;  and  I  found  that  I  must  desist  from 
writing.  1 

I  am  thankful  to  hear,  from  time  to  time,  improved  reports 
of  your  health.  I  also  feel  much  stronger ;  though  it  is 
rather  a  physical  feeling  than  a  mental. 

Mrs.  Campbell  and  I  are  making  here  a  visit  of  a  week  to 
our  Jeannie  and  her  husband,  and  their  child  ;  though,  as 
yet,  as  to  the  dear  babe  (eight  weeks  old  to-day),  the  social 
enjoyment  is  altogether  on  one  side.  I  have  been  telling 
William  Crum  and  Jean  what  you  used  to  say  of  two  meeting 
in  a  third. 

I  understand  that  you  have  again  your  pen  in  your  hand  : 
and  you  are  in  my  heart  as  one  seeking  to  teach  as  well  as 
•one  seeking  to  learn.  As  to  myself  I  seek  in  attempting  to 
teach  to  keep  within  what  I  have  learned ;  and  yet  often, 
when  I  read  what  I  have  written,  I  am  rebuked  in  a  way 
that  seems  to  imply  that  I  had  not  done  so.  This  experience 
is  however  only  one  form  of  our  shortcoming  in  living  up  to 
rvhat  we  kno2i)  :  as  to  which — so  manifestly  right  and  due — 
I  am  learning  more  to  recognize  quiet  repose  in  the  light  of 
what  is  known,  as  a  true  form  of  confessing  Christ,  than  I 
used  to  do.     .     .     .     Your  affectionate  friend, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 
*  i.e.,  on  account  of  the  state  of  his  health. 


228  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xiii. 

To  Mrs.  Macxabb. 

Laurel  Bank,  26th  March,  1869. 

I  thank  you  much  for  the  opportunity  of  knowing  the 
course  of  this  so  interesting  late  debate.  It  is  to  me  a  very 
solemn  subject. 

I  had  most  sjonpathy  with  Sir  Roundell  Palmer;  but 
had  I  had  to  vote  would  have  found  decision  most  difficult. 
What  pai7is  me  most  is  the  treatment  of  the  Irish  Church  as 
having  "  forfeited  its  claim  to  endowment  because  its  task 
has  not  been  accomplished."  What  church  has  accomplished 
its  task  ?  What  man  his  ?  And  they  surely  latterly  were 
at  least  more  profitable  to  their  own  flock  ;  and  if  not  aggres- 
sive, could  that  have  been  reasonably  expected  from  them  ? 

If  it  is  now  found  that  the  church  of  a  minority  cannot 
be  a  national  church,  be  it  so ;  and  let  men  act,  if  they  see 
this  clearly,  on  their  new  light.  But  let  the  true  ground  be 
taken,  and  the  true  reason  avowed. 

My  mind  is  much  occupied  just  now  with  a  subject  which 
I  have  repeatedly  put  from  me,  and  then  it  has  come  back 
upon  me  ;  namely,  the  w^sdom  and  desirableness,  now  that 
my  last  link  with  Glasgow  is  severed  in  Robert's  start  in  life, 
of  seeking  a  home  in  the  perfect  country  and  by  the  sea 
shore.     We  look  to  the  old  Gareloch. 

To  /lis  Second  Son. 

Partick,   1st  April,  1869. 

My  last  letter  was  not  what  I  like  to  write  to  you ;  for  it 
met  you  only  on  the  outside  of  life,  and  I  always  would  seek 
communion  with  you  in  that  which  is  more  inward,  and 
which  is  our  true  life. 

I  remember  when  at  Versailles  and  looking  at  the  pictorial 
histor}'  of  France,  which  seemed  painted  there  as  its  pride 


1868-69.       THE  DISCIPLINE  OF  SUFFERING.         229 

and  glory,  feeling  it  sad  that  the  pictures  were  of  a  series  of 
battles,  as  if  the  nation  existed  to  fight.  Of  course  the 
battles  recorded  were  French  victories.  No  Crecy,  no 
Agincourt,  no  Trafalgar,  no  Waterloo.  But  the  one-sided- 
ness  of  the  history  was  not  its  painfulness.  It  was  the  false 
idea  which  it  bore  witness  to. 

"  Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world  but  he  that 
believe th  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?"  The  false  glory  is 
powerless  where  there  is  the  spiritual  vision  of  the  true ;  and 
he  who  sees  in  Christ  the  true  divine  ideal  for  man,  which 
the  Son  of  God  became  the  Son  of  Man  to  reveal  to  men, 
and  to  realize  which  in  us  is  the  fruit  of  the  travail  of  His 
soul  in  which  alone  He  is  satisfied, — that  man  has  the  secret 
of  victory  over  all  temptations,  outward  and  inward,  which 
our  position  in  this  world  exposes  us  to.  "  Behold  what 
manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  on  us."  The  love 
of  the  Father  of  our  spirits  can  rest  in  no  portion  for  us 
short  of  participation  in  the  life  of  the  Son  of  God. 

To  his  Youngest  Son. 

Partick,  I2th  April,  1869. 
To-day  I  went  with  your  mother  to  see  the  sister  of  M.  G., 
who  died  lately.  You  will  remember  M.  G.,  who  was  from  near 
Parkhill.  I  first  saw  her  thirty-eight  years  ago,  being  then 
taken  to  see  her  by  Miss  Duncan  as  a  great  sufi'erer  confined 
to  bed  and  not  likely  to  recover ;  but  who  seemed  then  pre- 
pared for  death,  and  who  was  peaceful  in  the  expectation  of 
it.  Her  sufferings  have  been  more  or  less  severe  evej'  since : 
and  we  learned  to-day  that  they  were  very  severe  to  near  the 
close,  though  she  died  as  one  falling  asleep.  In  these  thirty- 
eight  years  I  have  been  seeing  her  from  time  to  time,  and  been 
always  made  thankful  by  her  patient  faith  :  while  the  need  be 
for  so  prolonged  a  trial  of  faith  was  what  gave  me  the  deepest 
sense  of  the  mystery  of  the  divine  discipline  of  our  souls  ; — 


230  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xiii, 

one  person  being  subjected  to  so  much,  while  another  suffers 
so  little.  Yet  a  large  proportion  of  what  tries  faith  is  visible 
only  to  the  mind  itself  that  is  tried  ;  and  faith  may  be  severely 
tested  while  there  is  nothing  in  outward  circumstances  to 
invite  the  sympathy  of  friends.  But  I  can  have  no  doubt 
that  M.  G.'s  testimony  "that  it  had  been  good  for  her  to 
have  been  so  afflicted "  will  be  that  of  all  sufferers  who 
suffer  in  the  light  of  Christ.  May  you,  my  precious  boy, 
pass  through  whatever  you  are  called  to  bear  in  this  light  of 
life  !  You  may  have  heard  me  liken  faith  in  respect  to  its 
relation  to  all  trial,  great  or  small,  to  the  aptitude  of  the 
proboscis  of  the  elephant  to  tear  a  tree  out  of  the  ground  or 
to  lift  a  needle.  I  believe  that  we  suffer  great  loss  from  not 
using  faith  in  small  trials  as  in  great. 

1 2th  May,  1869. 
I  am  glad  that  it  occurred  to  me  to  give  you  this  perfect 
and  complete  edition  of  Shakespeare.^  It  will  be  long  I  trust 
before  the  type  becomes  too  small  for  you.  In  the  fifty 
years  that  are  between  our  birthdays,  and  even  farther  back,. 
Shakespeare  has  been  one  of  the  influences  moulding  my 
mind.  May  you  get  as  little  harm  and  not  less  good  from 
him  !  We  need  to  have  "  salt  in  ourselves  "  not  less  in 
seeing  the  world  of  humanity  in  the  mirror  of  his  mind,  than 
in  the  direct  vision  of  it,  as  in  the  course  of  life  it  presents- 
itself  to  us  for  praise  or  blame.  But  so  prepared  we  shall 
extract  good  and  not  evil  from  either.  May  you,  my  precious 
boy,  have  salt  in  yourself,  i.e.^  light  within  to  judge  what 
comes  from  without — a  father's  birthday  wish. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

I-AUREL  Bank,  4th  May,  1869. 
I  have  been  feeling  much  how  sorrow,  which  draws  us 
nearer  to  God,  draws  us  nearer  to  each  other  also.      Doubt- 
^  The  Globe  edition. 


1868-69.        DR.  MACLEOD  AS  MODERATOR.  231 

less  we  shall  all  be  very  near  to  each  other  when  in  that 
greater  nearness  to  God  which  we  anticipate,  and  which 
even  now  advances  as  the  Eternal  Life  of  love  more  ani- 
mates our  whole  being.  This  is  one  aspect  of  the  blessed 
prospect  that  "  when  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Him, 
for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is." 

This  is  my  sixty-ninth  birthday;  so  for  so  many  hours  I 
have  been  in  my  seventieth  year  I  "  Lord,  so  teach  us  to 
number  our  days,  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts  unto 
wisdom." 

A  birth-day,  while  it  takes  one  back  into  the  past  and 
forward  into  the  future,  invites  to  the  realization  of  the 
present,  of  present  mercies ; — and  to  whom  can  I  write  of 
these  so  fitly  as  to  you,  beloved  sister  ! 

My  Mary  is  well — stronger  than  she  has  been  recently ; 
our  children  are  all  subjects  of  present  thankfulness,  and  of 
hope  for  their  further  development  as  branches  in  the  vine 
under  the  culture  of  the  great  Husbandman.  This  sweet 
little  twig  with  leaves  so  tender,  also,  as  she  is  in  our  prayers, 
is,  rightly,  in  our  hopes, — our  wee  grandchild,  the  first 
to  us  of  a  third  generation.  "  Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling- 
place  in  all  generations."  How  blessed  to  feel  the  words  of 
"  Moses,  the  man  of  God,"  as  they  come  to  us  across  the 
ages,  awakening  a  true  living  echo  in  our  own  hearts. 

Mary  and  Margaret  and  I  went  down  in  the  end  of  the 
week,  to  look  at  the  place  pointed  out  for  us  on  the  Gare- 
loch.  We  had  Norman  as  our  fellow-traveller  in  the  train 
returning.  He  seemed  to  feel  a  welcome  for  the  thought  of 
my  ending  my  days  on  the  Gareloch.  He  is  to  be 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  this  year,  and  wishes 
me  to  see  him  in  the  chair;  also  to  be  at  the  Moderator's 
dinner  after.  I  would  wish  to  meet  his  wish,  but  shrink 
from  the  latter  part  at  least  of  the  proposal.  My  sight  has 
failed  much  more  rapidly  just  of  late. 


232  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

To  Mr.  Erskine. 

Laurel  Bank,  15th  May,  1869. 
My  beloved  Friend, — I  am  looking  forward  to  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you,  but  not  so  soon  as  you  have  been 
led  to  expect.  Norman  Macleod  is  Moderator  of  this  year's 
General  Assembly ;  and  I  am  yielding  to  several  feelings — 
all  right,  I  trust,  though  not  all  belonging  to  the  same  region 
— in  venturing  to  go  to  see  him  in  the  chair,  and  be  his 
guest  at  the  "  Moderator's  dinner  "  the  day  after  the  close  of 
the  Assembly — Tuesday,  ist  June.^ 

The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  indeed  our  strength ;  but  while  I 
am  jealous  of  myself,  fearing  to  be  contented  to  live  below 
our  high  calling,  I  am  thankful  to  feel  some  liberty  to 
identify  with  "joy  in  the  Lord"  much  habitual  peace  that 
scarce  can  claim  the  name  of  "joy." 

You  will  be  interested  in  hearing  that  I  am  looking 
forward  to  passing  what  evening  of  life  may  be  appointed 
for  me  on  the  Gareloch !  .  .  .  My  failing  sight  has 
made  any  social  value  that  Glasgow  has  had  less  than  it 
was;  and  Mrs.  Campbell  felt  that  I  could  go  out  there 
during  the  winter  on  many  days  on  which  I  would  have  been 
a  prisoner  here. — Yours  ever  in  much  love, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6th  May,  1869. 
My  DARLING  James, — It  seems  quite  a  duty  to  write  to 
you  on  this  occasion  of  the  settling  of  the  question  of  my 
return  to  the  Gareloch.  I  always  in  my  heart  acknowledged 
myself  your  debtor  for  the  filial  love  that  was  animating  your 
pleadings  for  this  move. 

^  This  intention  was  not  carried  out. 


1868-69.  THE  ASCENSION.  233 

.  .  .  Now  that  it  has  taken  the  form  of  a  fixed  arrange- 
ment, I  see  your  idea  ahnost  entirely  on  that  side  on  which 
it  shows  as  a  special  mercy  from  Him  who  "appoints  the 
bounds  of  our  habitation  that  we  may  seek  after  Him  and 
find  Him;"  and  who,  as  He  made  seeking  after  Himself  and 
finding  Him  the  deep  interest  of  my  former  life  on  the  shore 
of  the  Gareloch,  will,  I  trust,  grant  abundantly  the  same  in- 
terest to  my  second  life  there  also.  I  am  in  truth  (as  I  have 
been  saying  to  Dr.  Scott  and  Mrs.  Story)  looking  forward  to 
"^  a  quiet  evening  of  my  day  "  where  I  passed  "  its  troubled 
noon."  This  may  or  may  not  be.  But  it  will  be  enough  if 
that  life  in  Christ  which,  in  its  dawn  at  Row,  was  a  light 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  and  which,  by  the  grace  of 
my  God,  has  been  on  the  whole  "  shining  more  and  more 
unto  perfect  day,"  shall  so  continue  to  the  close  of  that 
lower  day — that  perishing  life— which  only  has  an  evening 
and  passes  into  a  night.  How  peacefully  one  realizes  that 
"  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,"  while  realizing 
that  "  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  17th  May,  1869. 
.  .  .  The  physical  form  of  our  blessed  Lord's  ascension 
is  to  me  but  as  a  kind  of  language,  synonymous  with  "  He 
ascended  up  into  heaven ; "  and  I  would  as  little  have 
expected  any  true  knowledge  of  "  heaven,"  or  of  what  it  is 
to  be  there,  from  seeing  that  sight  as  from  reading  these 
words.  What  a  blank  to  the  blind  all  that  sight  reveals  to 
us !  to  the  deaf  the  whole  world  of  sound — speech  or  music ! 
The  extent  to  which  this  is  so  is  hid  from  us  by  intercourse 
with  the  blind  and  the  deaf,  and  their  use  of  our  words  in 
these  regions  from  which  they  are  excluded,  being  denied 
real  knowledge.  How  far  wider  the  distance,  as  to  true  and 
adequate   conception,    which   is    interposed    between    the 


234  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

natural  and  the  spiritual !  He  that  would  have  sight  added 
to  hearing  would  not  be  introduced  into  so  new  and  strange 
a  region  as  we  would  feel  brought  into,  if  there  was  a  cor- 
responding addition  of  knowledge  of  the  spiritual  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  physical.  Such  an  addition  might  give  us 
to  know  the  confines  and  relations  of  these  regions,  and  the 
manner  of  their  coexistence.  But  until  that  addition  to  our 
knowledge  is  made,  we  must  be  contented  to  use  words 
without  their  full,  and  indeed  without  their  real,  meaning,  or 
be  perplexed  by  seeming  puzzles  and  seeming  contradic- 
tions even,  which  are  such  only  to  our  ignorance. 

I  am  reading  A.  Comte's  Catechism  of  Positivism.  I  see 
that  what  I  knew  of  his  system  at  second-hand  was  defective 
in  extent  only,  not  in  accuracy ;  for  which  I  am  thankful. 
The  system  does  not  look  better  on  a  nearer  acquaintance  ; 
though  closer  contact  with  his  earnest  spirit  awakens  a 
tenderness  for  the  man.  That  "  the  light  is  shining  in  dark- 
ness, though  the  darkness  comprehends  it  not,"  is  the  reflec- 
tion which  so  many  points  of  parallelism  with  Christianity^ 
in  an  offered  substitute  for  Christianity,  ever  suggest.  Men 
seem  seeking  for  what  is  already  given  in  Christ,  but  is  not 
seen  to  be  given.  Why  what  God  has  given  is  not 
welcomed  as  given,  and  yet  is  dimly  conceived  of  as  good, 
is  a  mystery.  One  answer  is,  that  Christianity  when  rejected 
is  not  seen  in  Christ,  but  in  some  misrepresentation  which 
cannot  identify  itself  with  the  light  which  lighteth  every  man 
that  cometh  into  the  world. 

I  cannot  now  attempt  to  illustrate  or  justify  this  impression 
by  quotation  or  references.  But  when  one  would  teach  us 
" to  live  for  others"  and  seems  to  himself  to  find  his  path 
blocked  up  by  the  faith  of  Him  who  lived  for  and  died  for, 
and  ever  lives  for  us  all,  he  clearly  either  misconceives 
Christianity,  or  the  expression  "living  for  others"  is  on  his 
lips  but  an  empty  soimd.  I  think  and  trust  the  first  solution 
is  the  nearest  to  the  truth. 


1868-69.        THE  MEANING  OF  SUFFERING.  235 

Your  mother  has  been  reading  Ewald  ^  to  me.  There  is 
in  him  a  real  faith  in  God  and  in  Christ — for  which  I  am 
thankful.  But  his  philosophy  (or  science)  of  Christianity 
does  not  commend  itself  to  me  as  the  truth  of  things ;  for^ 
while  he  accepts  "  Incarnation  "  in  words,  what  he  seems  to 
mean  is  a  development  of  humanity.     But  I  must  stop. 


To  his  Son-in-Law. 

Laurel  Bank,  19th  May,  1869. 

The  words  "taking  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  your  goods, 
knowing  in  yourselves  that  you  have  in  heaven  a  better  even 
an  enduring  substance,"  though  used  originally  with  another 
and  a  lower  reference  (and  greatly  lower  doubtless),  still  rise 
to  that  highest  consolation  under  trial  which  meets  our 
highest  as  well  as  our  lower  need  ;  and  the  value  of  which 
reveals  itself  more  and   more   as  the  intensifying  of  trial 

causes  us  to  draw  more  upon  it.     's  patient  and  even 

cheerful  meeting  of  the  will  of  God  when  assuming  so 
solemn  a  form,  has,  doubtless,  been  the  fruit  of  the  experi- 
ence of  the  power  of  faith  in  His  love  to  sustain  her  under 
and  bless  to  her  what  she  has  already  passed  through;  and  the 
confidence  to  which  she  has  attained  can  only  grow  under 
His  hand  whose  purpose  in  all  trial  of  faith  is  the  increase  of 
faith. 

Where  we  see  faith  we  are  ready  to  think  the  end  of  the 
Lord  is  accomplished— may  not  the  spirit  reconciled  to  God 
be  now  allowed  to  rest  quietly  in  His  love  ?  But  no — 
"  Every  branch  that  beareth  fruit,  he  purgeth  it,  that  it  may 
bring  forth  more  fruit."  For  our  Lord  says  to  us,  "  Herein  is 
my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much  fruit."  He  who  says  to 
the  Father,  "  I  have  glorified  Thee  on  the  earth,"  desires  for 
us  (would  we  have  it  otherwise  ?)  that  the  Father's  glory  in 

^  The  "  Life  of  Christ,"  extracted  from  the  History  of  Israel. 


2i(i  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

Him  may  be  perpetuated  in  us.  The  sufferings  of  Christ 
were  the  preparation  for  the  glory  that  should  follow.  His 
sufferings  do  much  for  us  if  they  convey  to  us  the  assurance 
of  His  love  ;  but  they  are  to  us  all  that  they  are  intended  to 
be  only  when  they  shed  divine  light  on  our  own  sufferings, 
and  teach  us  how  to  think  of  them,  how  to  profit  by  them. 
So  understood  we  can  even  be  thankful  for  them.  I  know, 
dear  William,  that  this  may  seem  a  hard  saying  ;  patient 
submission  seems  so  difficult  a  victory  of  faith  that  thankful- 
ness may  well  appear  an  extravagant  thought,  and  even  un- 
natural :  but  perfect  acquiescent  patience  implies  faith  in  the 
wise  love  which  is  subjecting  us  to  suffering,  and  that  which 
is  a  form  of  wise  love  asks  the  response  of  thankfulness  as 
well  as  of  patience.  All  this  I  allow  myself  to  write  to  you 
because  that  faith  which  reconciles  the  sufferer  to  suffering  is 
the  proper  mind  in  which  to  sympathize  with  sufferings  ;  and 
realizing  the  love  hid  from  sight  but  visible  to  faith,  w^hich  is 
in  the  cup  which  the  Father's  hand  is  filling  for  any  dear  one, 
•alone  can  reconcile  us,  or  save  us  from  hard  thoughts  of 
Him.  Let  us  never  forget  that  to  help  our  suffering  dear 
ones  truly,  we  must  help  their  faith  in  the  love  w-hich  is 
afflicting  them ;  and  to  help  their  faith  we  must  have  and 
express  the  faith  which  we  desire  to  strengthen. 

I  could  not  lose  a  post  in  expressing  my  sympathy  and  my 
interest.  Uttering  my  own  faith  is  all  I  can  do, — can  do  for 
you  as  a  sharer  in  this  trial.  May  you  all  have  your  faith  in 
the  love  of  God  strengthened  for  your  own  sakes  and  for 
hers,  whom  your  faith  will  comfort  and  strengthen  as  nothing 
else  can ;  for  we  are  members  one  of  another.  I  am  feeling 
deeply  the  greatness  of  this  trial  to  you  all. 

Our  united  sympathizing  love  to  you  all.  Oh  !  how  dark 
would  life  be,  but  for  the  light  that  God  is  love. 


1868-69.  DR.  MACLEOD'S  ADDRESS.  237 

To  his  Second  Son. 

Partick,  3rd  June. 

This  mail  will  I  expect  take  a  number  of  the  Noncon- 
formist of  12th  May  Avith  a  review  of  my  last  little  book 
(the  Bread  of  Life,  2nd  edition),  for  which  you  will  be 
thankful. 

I  am  in  my  old  age  having  the  great  privilege  of  mingling 
my  thoughts  with  the  thoughts  of  many  minds  in  that  most 
serious  thinking.  And  in  proportion  as  I  have  had  the 
consciousness  of  writing  in  light,  I  have  the  hope  of  com- 
mending myself  to  the  consciences  of  other  men  in  the  sight 
of  God. 

I  am  sending  also  by  this  mail  the  full  report  given  in  the 
Scotsman  of  Norman's  address  to  the  General  Assembly  at 
its  close.  Your  interest  in  him  will  give  it  an  interest  to  you 
apart  from  what  claim  Scotland  and  all  that  concerns  it  has 
on  you.  I  think  he  has  steered  his  bark  well  amid  rocks 
and  shallows. 

There  is  something  ever  being  realized  of  what  the  church 
ought  to  be,  though  so  much  less  than  we  would  expect  from 
the  words,  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches,"  which 
teach  us  to  expect  in  Christianity  an  expansion  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  and  this  all  that  is  true  Christianity  is.  But  in 
churches  as  in  individuals,  Christianity  is  present  mingled 
with  much  that  is  not  Christianity ;  and  as  we  expect 
not  perfect  men,  neither  do  we  expect  perfect  churches. 
Only  let  us  seek  to  have  the  true  ideal  before  us,  aiming  at  it 
as  individuals,  seeking  to  help  others  to  attain  to  it  in  cor- 
porate capacities.  What  an  inward  secret  life  known  only 
to  God  in  whose  strength  it  is  lived,  by  whose  favour  it  is- 
fed,  will  be  progressing  in  us  if  cherishing  this  aim  and 
interest  in  our  hearts  as  the  true  interest  of  existence ! 

This  hidden  life  which  each  of  us  ought  to  be  living  is  at 
once  distinct  from,  and  also  the  light  and  strength  of,  our 


238  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

outward  life  ;  so  that  we  are  what  we  are  called  to  be  among 
men,  just  in  the  measure  in  which  we  are  right  with  God. 
This  hidden  life  with  its  lights  and  shadows,  some  are  in  the 
Avay  of  chronicling  as  it  advances.  This  I  have  never  done, 
but  I  have  not  the  less  sought  to  know  how  it  passes,  coming 
with  it  to  that  light  in  which  its  true  character  is  made 
manifest,  and  which,  when  it  most  condemns,  is  to  be  wel- 
<:omed  as  the  light  of  life. 

To  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  Partick,  12th  June,  1869. 

I  think  with  pleasure  of  Mrs.  Vaughan  and  you  in  the  Lake 
country ;  and  feel  how  much  I  would  enjoy  seeing  it  with 
jou.  This  1  still  could,  although  the  failure  of  my  sight  has 
been  advancing  since  I  saw  you.  I  thank  you  for  Mr. 
Prichard's  letter,^  which  I  now  return.  May  we  both 
respond  to  his  request  in  spirit  and  in  truth  !  How  various 
the  forms  which  the  one  love  takes  in  seeking  the  accom- 
plishment of  its  purpose  in  us  1  Weakness  and  suffering, 
and  the  sense  of  the  slenderness  of  his  thread  of  life,  tiy  this 
•dear  man's  faith;  rendering  more  and  more  precious  the 
anchor  of  the  soul  that  has  its  hold  within  the  veil.  We  are 
called  to  be  saints.  How  solemn  and  humbling  (while  yet 
encouraging)  any  acknowledging  of  the  least  seeming 
-approach  to  meeting  the  call ! 

We  are  looking  forward  to  a  change  of  residence — to  the 
Gareloch ;  not  the  Row  Side,  but  the  Rosneath  ;  but  not  till 
November.  You  may  be  our  visitors  there  next  summer ; 
and  if  this  pleasure  is  in  store  for  us,  it  will  be  to  me  a  great 

^  The  letter  contained  this  passage  :  '•  Accept  my  best  thanks  for  your 
Icindness,  and  for  bringing  me  into  contact  with  so  saintly  a  character  as 
Dr.  Campbell.  If  you  write  to  him,  will  you  kindly  tell  how  ill  I  have 
been.  Asking  his  and  your  prayers, — I  am  yours  most  truly,  C.  E. 
Prichard." 


1868-69.  DR.   VAUGHAN.  239 

interest  to  show  you  my  early  clerical  home, — WTitten  over 
with  sacred  and  sweet  memories  still  legible  to  me;  and 
which  it  may  be  not  unprofitable  that  I  should  read  to  you. 
But,  apart  from  this,  the  scene  will  have  to  you  both  the 
charm  of  great  and  peculiar  beauty. 

Parkhill,  3rd  July,  1869. 
My  darling  James, — You  would  waken  this  morning 
with  a  sense  of  relief  which  must  have  been  most  pleasant.^ 
Something  like  waking  at  anchor  in  a  quiet  harbour  after 
some  weeks  tossing  at  sea.  Nor  will  there  be  any  anxious 
conjecturing  as  to  how  you  may  be  placed.  You  have  done 
your  part,  having  done  your  best ;  and  that  is  enough.  John's 
work  seems  pretty  hard,  but  it  is  a  different  hardness  from 
hard  grinding ;  and  it  seems  to  agree  better  with  him  than 
many  other  forms  of  what  the  poet  calls  "  the  sad  sentence 
of  an  ancient  date,  that  like  an  emmet  man  must  ever  moil." 
My  old  friend  of  my  early  Row  days, — ^the  third  with  Mar- 
tyn  and  Brainerd  of  a  trio  who  shared  with  my  Bible  the 
whole  of  my  reading  in  these  days,- — says  it  is  well  to  be 
diligent  in  business,  if  communion  with  that  which  is  above 
be  as  the  oil  to  the  wheel  of  all  our  actions.  The  desire  of 
success — whatever  may  be  the  kind  of  success,  special 
ambition — is  the  usual  oil  to  the  wheel  of  business  activity. 
Henry  Dorney  was  a  London  merchant,  to  whom  the  prac- 
tical question  of  each  day  had  its  most  important  aspect  in 
its  relation  to  the  voice  which  was  ever  in  his  ear,  "  Keep 
thine  heart  with  all  diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of 
life." 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  i6thjuly,  1869. 

.     .     .     This  gathering  of  old — shall  I  say  pupils  or  dis- 
ciples ? — to  Dr.  Vaughan,  to  share  in  this  interesting  wind- 
^  After  the  final  examination  for  the  India  Civil  Service. 


240 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 


ing  up  of  his  Doncaster  life,  will  be  a  grave  while  a  happy 
event  to  you  all.  .  .  His  new  position,  as  having  the 
opportunity  of  influencing  others  for  their  highest  good,  is 
essentially  one  with  the  two  he  has  already  occupied,  though 
different  in  form.  They  will  have  all  three,  as  occupied  by 
him,  the  unity  of  the  common  salvation.  You  remember 
the  words  I  have  often  quoted,  which  were  the  sole  commen- 
tary on  a  chapter  in  the  first  epistle  of  St.  John  which  he 
had  just  read,  by  an  old  man  of  Mr.  Scott's  Httle  flock  at 
Plumstead  (1838),  when  met  in  his  absence,  and  when  I, 
though  present,  was  not  strong  enough  to  preach  :  "  '  God 
is  love  '3  I  felt  the  love  of  God  this  morning  when  my 
children  asked  me  for  bread,  and  I  had  bread  to  give  them." 
In  the  highest  sense  Dr.  Vaughan  has  much  of  this  occasion 
to  "  feel  the  love  of  God,"  in  that  he  is  asked  for  bread,  and 
has  bread  to  give. 

You  know  that  I  had  a  welcome  letter  from  Mr.  D. 
Vaughan  in  reference  to  the  second  edition  of  the  Bread  of 
Life.  .  .  How  does  all  true  and  living  echo  from  the 
depths  of  a  true  consciousness  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  "  My 
flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed,"  grow 
in  value  when  we  have  it  ///  ourselves  while  reading  grave  and 
earnest  expressions  of  doubt — echoes  of  Pilate's  question, 
"  "\^^lat  is  truth?"  or,  worse  still,  the  cry  evprjKa  when  we  see 
that  all  is  still  dark  !  I  have  not  yet  told  you  that  when  at 
Parkhill  I  took  advantage  of  Mr.  Duncan's  eyes  and  ability 
to  translate  French  to  make  myself  acquainted  with  Positiv- 
ism as  briefly  taught  in  Comte's  Catechism.  .  .  The  full 
result  of  making  this  acquaintance  Vvith  the  last  offered 
substitute  for  Christianity  I  will  not  attempt  to  give  you 
until  we  meet.  My  saddest  thought  is  that  a  thinking  man 
has  found  it  possible  to  bring  against  Christianity  the  charge 
of  egotism.  What  excuse  for  so  fundamental  a  misconcep- 
tion is  to  be  found  in  the  mistake  of  seeing  Christianity  not 
in  Christ  but  in  the  Church,  I  know  not  :  for  the  Church  is 


1868-69.      rOSITIVISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  241 

not  and  has  not  been  historically  Christ  multiplied;  which  it 
has  been  ever  the  true  calling  of  the  Church  to  be.  Yet,  how- 
ever little  Christians  have  been  able  to  offer  themselves  to 
the  faith  of  men  as  living  epistles  of  the  grace  of  God,  or 
say.  He  that  has  seen  us  has  seen  Christ,  as  He  said,  "  He 
that  hath  seen  Me  has  seen  the  Father ;"  still,  Christ  has  not 
been  these  eighteen  hundred  years  without  witnesses  who 
have  been  living  commentaries  on  His  teaching  of  the 
Divine  life  as  Love. 

Love  to  God  is  self-love  because  of  the  sense  of  depen- 
dence which  underlies  it ;  and  love  to  man  is  selfish  because 
it  is  cherished  at  the  command  of  God  !  To  love  God  is  to 
love  Love  ;  for  God  is  Love.  That  the  knowledge  that  God 
is  Love,  as  well  as  that  knowledge  of  love  which  enables  us  to 
know  what  we  say  when  we  say  that  God  is  Love,  comes  to 
us  in  the  form  of  actings  of  the  Divine  Love  in  relation  to 
ourselves  ;  and  that  love  in  us  is  quickened  by  the  faith  of 
these  actings  ; — this  in  no  way  affects  the  nature  of  love  as 
a  condition  of  our  being. 

Love  is  love,  and  the  highest  and  purest  interest  of  one 
in  others.  This  is  true  apart  from  the  history  of  the  exist- 
ence of  love  in  any  spirit.  To  us  the  Fountain  of  our  life 
is  the  Fountain  of  love ;  and  the  highest  aspect  of  our  being 
is,  that  we  are  capable  of  sharing  in  that  love  to  which  we 
trace  our  being ;  and  so  of  loving  God  for  what  He  is, — 
knowing  what  He  is,  and  the  excellence  of  what  He  is  in 
being  love,  as  it  is  possible  for  love  only  to  know  and  love. 
To  confound  this  mind  towards  God  with  the  selfish 
interest  of  dependence,  or  even  with  what  is  of  self-refer- 
ence in  gratitude,  imphes  that  it  is  not  known. 

But  I  must  be  done.  .  .  James  and  I  go  to  Carluke 
next  week.  M.  stays  at  home  with  beloved  Mama.  James 
is  enjoying  our  beautiful  roses.  This  place  never  looked 
better. 

VOL.  II.  Q 


242  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

25th  July,  1869. 

.  .  .  James  and  I  made  a  pleasant  visit  to  the  Manse  ; 
enjoying  their  wonted  kindness,  and  accompanying  Dr. 
Wylie  to  call  on  neighbours,  whose  places  are  among  the 
most  beautiful  features  of  the  Upper  Ward  of  Lanarkshire  : 
viz.,  Coltness,  Mauldslie  Castle,  and  Milton  Lockhart.  James 
has  seen  these  beautiful  places  and  with  the  interest  of 
intercourse  with  those  that  dwell  in  them  ;  for  this  makes  a 
great  difference. 

[With  reference  to  conversation  on  the  subject  of  theo- 
logical difficulties :]  .  .  .  There  \%  2^  q.qx\2\x\.  diminution 
af  moital  freedom  in  weighing  such  questions  produced  by 
littering  doubts.  One  less  easily  sees  the  unreality  of  any- 
thing once  spoken  of  to  another  as  real ;  to  utter  a  doubt, 
and  still  more  to  argue  in  its  favour,  making  free  considera- 
tion of  it  more  difficult.  I  was  not  the  worse  of  my  long 
letter.  I  could  wish  to  write  another  on  the  topics  of  a  long 
talk  with  Professor  Young,^  who  was  here  on  Monday.  But 
I  may  wait  your  coming  to  say  what  I  think  as  to  the  several 
provinces  of  Science  and  Metaphysics,  and  of  Theology  and 
Morality. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  ist  August,  1869. 

I  am  hearing  of  you,  and  I  am  thinking  of  you;  yet  I  feel 
a  craving  for  communion  with  you  which  is  not  satisfied.  So 
I  am  sitting  down  to  write  to  you  after  some  deliberation  as 
to  which  of  you  I  should  ask  to  share  some  of  the  thoughts 
about  my  children  which,  never  long  absent  from  my  inner 
life,  are  more  abundant  in  my  Sunday  meditation.  This  is 
natural,  for  Sunday  is  more  a  day  of  meditation  than  of  action 
to  yourselves;  and  on  it  my  desire  and  prayer,  that  your  prayers 
for  yourselves  may  meet  my  prayers  for  you  at  the  throne  of 
^  Professor  of  Natural  History  in  the  University  of  Glasgow. 


1 868-69-  PRAISE  AND  PRAYER.  243 

grace,  is,  I  trust,  being  more  peculiarly  realized.  I  desire 
for  you — I  pray  for  you — that  you  may  pray.  True  thoughts 
of  our  God  awaken  praise.  This  movement  of  our  spirits 
we  are  conscious  to  when  meditating  on  what  He  is.  Shall 
we  praise  the  beauty  of  a  flower — or  of  music — or  of  "  earth, 
sea,  and  sky  all  centred  in  the  eye  ; "  shall  we  thus  permit 
ourselves  to  be  affected  by  these  according  to  their  nature 
and  our  capacity  of  feeling  the  excellence  that  is  in  them, 
and  shall  the  divine  perfection — the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ — not  affect  us  according  to  what  it  is,  and 
that  capacity  of  appreciating  it  with  which  we  are  endowed 
as  those  the  chief  end  of  whose  being  is  to  "  glorify  God  and 
enjoy  Him  for  ever"  ?  My  child,  seek  to  realize  what  God 
is,  and  to  yield  yourself  to  the  sense  of  what  He  is ;  so  shall 
your  heart  go  forth  to  Him  in  praise.  But  praise  will  be 
prayer  if  the  excellence  we  are  admiring  and  adoring  be  seen 
in  its  relation  to  ourselves.  For  that  excellence  is  shining 
on  our  conscious  being  as  light,  the  light  of  life;  revealing  to 
us  what  we  are— what  we  have  the  capacity  of  being— and 
what  the  Infinite  Love  into  which  we  are  gazing  wills  to  do  in 
us  that  that  capacity  may  be  filled  to  the  utmost.  In  such 
light  we  must  needs  pray.  Prayer  alone  is  the  due  obedience 
of  faith — I  may  say,  the  natural  expression  of  faith — when 
faith  is  thus  apprehending  the  love  which  the  Father  is 
bestowing  upon  us.  We  cannot  but  pray  that  the  love  of 
God  may  fulfil  its  own  will  in  us.  This  is  the  inevitable 
welcome  with  which  we  meet  the  love  in  the  reality  of  which 
and  in  the  divine  power  of  which  we  are  believing. 

And  prayer  thus  ascending  to  God  as  the  fountain  of 
divine  life,  that  life  flows  into  us  more  or  less  abundantly 
according  as  we  pray.  While  it  flows  it,  so  to  speak,  ever 
widens  the  channel  in  which  it  flows. 

I  seek  rather  to  suggest  than  to  expand  the  thought  to 
which  I  invite  your  interest.  Let  me  add,  meditation 
passing  into  praise,  and   praise  into  prayer,   to  prayer  will 


244  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

succeed  the  "  keeping  of  the  heart  with  all  diligence,  because 
out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life." 

Water  of  life  from  the  fountain  of  life  flowing  into  us  in 
the  divine  response  to  prayer,  is  in  the  heart  as  in  the 
fountain  of  an  individual  life;  which,  being  thus  divinely 
filled,  flows  fresh  from  us  in  pure  streams  of  right  thoughts 
and  feelings — taking  form  in  right  words  and  actions.  So  a 
pure  life  will  issue,  the  fountain  of  the  heart  "  kept  dili- 
gently ; "  that  is,  watchful  care  being  exercised  to  suffer  no 
inflow  but  what  is  from  God. 

15th  August,  1S69. 

What  better  form  of  expression  can  I  now  choose  than  the 
words  with  which  I  closed  my  last  hurried  letter — "The 
Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee,  and  cause  the  light  of  his 
countenance  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace." 
What  a  wonderful  sum  of  true  conceptions  of  our  relation  to 
our  God,  and  of  the  blessedness  which  belongs  to  occupying 
that  relation  aright,  do  these  words,  "  the  light  of  God's 
countenance,"  contain  !  God  is  love,  and  His  love  comes 
forth  to  us  and  enfolds  us  continually.  But,  while  unchang_ 
ing  as  love,  its  aspect  changes  according  to  changes  in  us — 
now  a  grieving  and  rebuking  love — now  an  acknowledging 
and  rejoicing  love  ;  and  sensitiveness  on  our  part  to  these 
changes  we  cherish  more  and  more  as  we  learn  to  find  our 
life  more  and  more  in  His  favour.  "  There  be  many  that 
say,  Who  will  show  us  any  good?  Lord,  lift  Thou  up  the  light  of 
Thy  countenance  upon  us."  Such  a  prayer  contains  in  it  the 
prayer,  "  Make  us  what  Thou  desirest  that  we  should  be;" 
for  unless  He  does  this  for  us,  we  cannot  be  such  as  the  light 
of  His  countenance  can  rest  upon.  But  He  teaches  us  what 
He  wills  us  to  be,  and  awakens  in  us  the  desire  to  be  it,  with 
the  i'^ention  of  causing  us  to  pray  for  and  to  welcome  His 
own  Holy  Spirit  to  make  us  to  be  it.  And  our  faith  in  so 
praying,  and  so  looking  to  God  to  perfect  His  strength  in  our 


1868-69.  THE  LIFE  OF  SONSHIP.  245 

weakness,  will  be  strong  in  the  measure  in  which  we  truly 
and  honestly  believe  that  God  does  truly  and  honestly  desire 
that  we  should  be  what  He  calls  us  to  be. 

■"  This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased : 
Hear  ye  Him."  We  do  not  doubt  that  with  Christ  God  is 
well  pleased.  But  why  does  a  voice  from  Heaven  tell  us  so? 
why  is  there  always  a  voice  which  is  the  voice  of  God  ever 
saying  this  to  us  in  our  own  hearts  ?  Not  surely  merely  to 
condemn  us  because  we  are  not  ourselves  what  we  see  in 
Christ.  This  is  one  result, — a  right  result ;  but  the  ultimate 
end, — the  result  in  which  God  will  have  pleasure, — is  what 
we  are  taught  by  the  words,  "  Hear  ye  Him."  Hear  Him 
that  He  may  teach  you  what  I  have  pleasure  in, — may  teach 
you  with  the  words  which  are  spirit  and  life — may  teach  you  to 
call  me  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  imparting  His  own 
mind  to  you.  All  my  various  good  wishes  for  you  have  this 
one  essence — that  you  may  ever  hear  the  Son  in  whom  the 
Father  is  well  pleased,  and  be  effectually  taught  by  Him. 

How  slow  we  are  to  understand  that  the  peaceful,  happy 
consciousness  of  being  in  the  school  of  Christ  learning  the 
life  of  Sonship  from  Him,  enabled  by  Him  to  live  that  life — 
is  religion. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

August,  1869. 

Your  pictures  of  the  wee  darling  are  most  delightful. 
How  Bob  must  rejoice  in  his  successful  use  of  the  cords  of 
love  to  draw  her  out  of  the  waters  of  unintelligent  conscious- 
ness, as  yet  the  main  stream  of  existence  to  her,  into  a  little 
portion  of  transparent  water  of  love,  through  which  the  rays 
of  his  love  reach  her. 

Mr.  Erskine  used  to  fix  a  child's  eye  by  a  look  of  kind- 
ness when  we  walked  among  the  happy  little  groups  in  the 
Tuilleries,  and  when  he  elicited  a  responsive  smile  he  would 
say,  "  that  child's  spirit  and  mine  have  communion." 


246  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

I  long  much  to  speak  to  the  spirit  if  not  to  the  intellect  of 
my  little  grandchild.  I  doubt  not  I  shall  succeed  in  this, 
though  not  having  the  attraction  for  babies  which  my  beloved 
fether  had,  to  whom  strange  children  in  their  nurses'  arms 
would  seek  to  get. 

I  remember  (as  you  have  heard  me  recal)  that,  in  my  deep 
sorrow  after  my  beloved  father's  death,  the  two  witnesses  for 
God's  love  that  most  cheered  me  as  helps  to  faith  were  the 
sunshine  and  your  infant  smile  :  of  course  imperfect  wit- 
nesses, and  bearing  their  testimony  with  success  because 
testifying  to  what  I  knew  already;  yet  true  witnesses  and 
helpful. 

I  enclose  a  letter  for  which  I  am  thankful.  It  takes 
me  back  to  1832,  and  a  visit  to  Inverness  which  I  have 
always  looked  back  on  with  thankfulness  in  connection  with 
the  Mr.  Wilson  whose  guest  I  was,  and  whose  welcome  of 
my  teaching  of  the  love  of  God  was  to  himself  a  crisis, — to 
himself  and  to  his  family. 

The  great  extent  to  which  theoretic  Calvinism  had  in  those 
days  possession  of  the  minds  of  all  who  were  much  occupied 
with  religion  made  my  preaching  "  news  "  as  well  as  good  ; 
and  there  was  a  positive  advantage  in  there  being  something 
to  get  over.,  as  compared  with  the  present  time  in  which  the 
assertion  that  "  Christ  died  for  all "  is  so  far  from  awaking 
surprise  that  the  opposite  would  more  surprise.  When  I  say 
"  advantage,"  I  mean  that  assent  then  implied  thought  and 
a  weighing  of  the  truth  alleged. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

19th  .September. 

Your  mother  and  I  have  just  been  enjoying  the  society  of 
our  sweet  grandchild  ;  and  in  now  taking  my  pen  to  repeat 
the  oft-told  tale  that  your  babe  is  as  well  as  can  be,  I  will 
attempt,  as  some  good  use  of  my  paper  (and  of  the  day  being 


186S-69.  MATTHEW  ARNOLD.  247 

a  Sunday),  to  address  to  you  and  to  dear  William  a  little 
sermon  on  the  text  of  your  little  girl's  felt  value  as  an 
element  in  our  society  here.  And  I  am  not  going  to  claim 
the  character  of  a  sermoji  for  any  dwelling  on  her  sweetness 
which  is  permissible  in  her  grandfather  writing  to  her  father 
and  mother.  What  has  been  impressing  my  own  mind  so 
much,  and  what  I  feel  it  for  edification  to  preach,  is  the 
thought  of  how  much  one  person  may  minister  to  others  of  a 
true  and  healthy  social  enjoyment  without  the  uttering  of  a 
toord,  or  the  doing  of  a  deed,  with  the  purpose  of  amusing  or 
being  civil,  or  in  any  way  the  purpose  of  making  company — 
simply  by  the  unconscious  influence  of  a  kindly,  social, 
responsive  feeling — no  more,  for  thought  it  is  not  yet.  The 
moral  is,  "  Let  me  seek  to  contribute  this  much  to  the  happi- 
ness of  those  with  whom  I  am — even  what  my  grandchild 
contributes — whatever,  less  or  more,  I  may  add  according 
as  the  measure  of  seventy  years'  development  may  have 
fitted  me  to  add." 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

14th  October,  1869. 

.  .  .  I  had  read  to  me  last  night  the  paper  ^  of 
Mr.  Arnold's  in  the  Cornhill  which  James  mentioned ;  and 
I  am  thankful  to  see  so  much  exercise  of  mind  in  the 
endeavour  to  weigh  aright  the  several  phases  of  religious 
thought  and  life  of  which  he  writes ;  and  I  recognize  many 
of  the  lines  he  draws  as  rightly  drawn.  His  next  article 
may  clear  the  point;  but  I  do  not  expect  to  find  his  positive 
teaching — or,  rather,  his  setting  forth  of  St.  Paul's  positive 
teaching — on  "justification"  so  satisfactory  as  his  negative 
assertion  as  to  what  the  Apostle  does  not  teach,  though  it 
has  been  so  usually  traced  to  him. 

As  to  "imputation  of  righteousness,"  you  know  that  I 
seem  to  myself  to  see  Luther  as  really  one  with  Paul,  neither 
^  "St.  Paul  and  Protestantism." 


248  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

being  one  with  the  Protestant  divines — Melanchthon,  &c., — 
though  they  have  been  regarded  only  as  systematizing 
Luther's  less  logical  thought.  I  do  not,  however,  wonder 
that  Luther  has  been,  as  I  think,  misunderstood ;  for  I  do 
not  feel  he  clearly  understood  himself.  But  in  the  light  of 
the  true  and  essential  righteousness  of  faith,  I  can  see  that 
righteousness  as  the  essence  of  Luther's  confidence  towards 
God,  however  much  his  words  are  what  might  here  mislead: 
while  I  do  not  see  any  indication  of  an  apprehension  of  the 
true  righteousness  of  faith  in  Arnold's  protest  for  the 
Apostle ;  whose  true  defence,  as  to  that  in  respect  of  which 
Arnold  defends  him,  is,  not  that  righteousness  was  primary 
and  justification  by  faith  secondary  in  the  Apostle's  mind, 
while  the  Reformation  theology,  erroneously  ascribed  to  the 
Apostle,  inverts  this  order ; — not  this,  but  that  the  Apostle 
saw  the  true  eternal  righteousness  in  faith  itself,  and  as  its 
very  essence.  This  is,  you  ^vill  see,  quite  a  different  con- 
ception. However,  if  I  do  Arnold  injustice,  his  next 
article  will  set  me  right.  If  I  do  not,  then  it  will  probably 
make  his  error  more  palpable. 

15th  October. 

[After  seeing  in  the  papers  an  intimation  of  the  death  of 
Mr.  Prichard  :]  He  had  never  answered  my  last  letter;  and 
I  had  often  thought  that  he  must  be  worse.  He  was  ill 
when  he  last  wTote,  and  had  often  been  thought  dying.  I 
felt  a  peculiar  bond  with  him.  His  was  the  first  review  of 
The  Nature  of  the  Atonement  that  indicated  any  real 
insight :  and  when  he  came  to  be  some  hours  with  me  at 
Leicester,  his  humble  tone  of  mind,  and  the  way  in  which 
he  listened  to  what  I  was  enabled  to  say  on  points  on  which 
he  had  difficulties,  quite  abased  me  in  my  own  thoughts. 

Having  taken  another  sheet,  I  must  say  a  word  as  to 
what  I  was  thinking  of  this  morning  in  reference  to  the 
oft-quoted  "There  is  more  faith  in  honest  doubt,"  &c.;  viz., 


1868-69.  DOUBT  AND  ORTHODOXY.  249 

that,  while  "  honest  doubt "  may  imply  a  real  faith  in  God, 
as  when  faith  in  God's  love  raises  doubts  as  to  the  truth  of 
what  are  regarded  as  the  orthodox  conceptions  of  the  divine 
counsels,  there  is  a  misleading  confusion  in  the  minds  of 
"  doubters,"  as  well  as  of  those  who  value  themselves  on 
their  "orthodoxy,"  as  to  iX^t  faith  without  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  please  God.  The  intellectual  element  in  faith  has 
absorbed  attention ;  the  moral  and  spiritual  have  been 
unrealized  ;  and  this  has  been  a  natural  result  of  the  kind  of 
value  put  on  orthodoxy  of  thought.  So  "  the  evil  heart  of 
unbelief,"  whose  proper  working  is  "departing  from  the 
living  God,"  has  been  ascribed  to  those  who  doubt ;  while 
the  good  heart  of  faith,  whose  working  is  cleaving  to  the 
living  God,  has  not  been  the  consciousness  of  those  bringing 
the  charge  in  the  confidence  of  their  own  believing.  Alas ! 
what  a  shadow  of  a  shade  that  "  believing"  is,  which,  in  the 
presence  of  "  doubt,"  congratulates  itself  on  being  the 
opposite  of  doubt !  This  we  shall  understand  if  we  see  that, 
in  the  light  of  real  belief,  we  do  constantly  feel  condemned 
by  the  consciousness  of  the  weakness  of  our  faith. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  15th  October,  1S69. 

The  analogy  of  prayer  to  the  use  of  other  means  to  ends 
may  not  be  so  obvious  to  you  as  it  is  to  me.  It  is  briefly 
this: — If  the  thought,  "God  will  bring  to  pass  what  He 
wills  should  come  to  pass,"  be  not  a  reason  for  not  using 
our  own  exertions  to  influence  the  future,  how  should  the 
thought  "God  will  do  what  He  proposes  to  do"  be  a  reason 
for  not  seeking  by  prayer  to  affect  the  future  ?  God,  intend- 
ing an  end  of  good  to  me  or  mine,  yet  seems  to  leave  that 
end  contingent  on  my  use  of  what  He  indicates  to  me  as 
right  means  :  prayer  is  one  of  the  means  thus  in  the  divine 
wisdom  interposed. 


250  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

It  has  been  often  said,  as  between  man  and  man,  "  It  is 
better  to  give  men  work  and  pay  them  for  it  than  to  feed 
them  in  idleness, — better  for  the  recipients  themselves."  As 
to  much  of  what  God  gives,  we  see  the  same  thing.  Our 
development  by  knowledge  acquired,  even  laboriously,  is 
what  we  cannot  see  would  be  if  the  same  knowledge  came 
to  us  by  intuition — were  the  simple  opening  of  a  mental  eye. 
The  knowledge  might  be  the  same,  but  the  development  of 
the  man  would  not. 

The  scientific  study  of  laws  may  develop  us  intellectually; 
personal  intercourse  with  the  Father  of  our  spirits  can  alone 
develop  us  as  sons  of  God ;  and  how  wisely  has  prayer  its 
place  in  this  intercourse,  he  knows  best  who  proves  it  most. 

To  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Vaughan. 

Laurel  Bank,  29th  October,  1869. 

Your  kindness  in  sending  to  me  that  most  pleasant  tribute 
in  the  Gicardian  to  Mr.  Prichard  is  too  long  unacknow- 
ledged. Let  me  thank  you  much.  I  had  been  thinking  of 
writing  to  ask  what  you  could  tell  me  of  him,  when  I  re- 
ceived your  letter.  The  deeply  interesting  impression  of  my 
few  hours  with  him  at  your  house  remains  very  freshly  with 
me.  I  thought  of  writing  to  Mrs.  Prichard,  but  did  not — not 
being  personally  known  to  her ;  and  nowtf  see  that  there 
must  be  a  circle  of  friends  of  his  known  to  her,  from  whom 
expressions  of  value  for  him  and  sympathy  with  her,  such  as 
will  soothe  her  sorrow,  will  come. 

I  trust  your  hopes  from  the  disestablished  Irish  Church 
may  be  realized.  I  also  hope  your  Church  may  retain  its 
cohesion,  and  not  fall  into  three  pieces.  I  realize  painfully 
the  superstition  in  one  section,  the  narrow  and  inadequate 
representation  of  the  gospel  by  another  section,  and  the 
vague  negative  aspect  of  the  teaching  of  the  third.  Yet  the 
antagonism  which  so  tends  to  fix  attention  on  that  in  which 


1868-69.      -"^T.  PAUL  AND  PROTESTANTISM.  251 

each  condemns  the  others — hindering  the  direct  considera- 
tion of  the  common  salvation — is  hkely  to  be  increased  by 
separation  into  wliat  we  may  fear  would  be  hostile  camps. 
However,  it  may  be  otherwise.  We  do  not  know.  Some- 
times I  hope  that  those  conflicting  claims  on  faith,  as  they 
wax  louder  and  louder,  may  cause  many  to  set  themselves  to- 
listen  calmly  to  the  still  small  voice. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  25th  November,  1869. 

.  .  .  I,  too,  was  not  expecting  so  much  seriousness 
from  M.  Arnold.  I  also  found  him,  in  part  at  least,, 
separating  between  the  Apostle  Paul  and  Calvinism  as  I 
have  myself  long  done.  But  it  seems  to  me  that,  while 
rightly  insisting  upon  the  place  which  righteousness  had  in 
the  Apostle's  mind,  he  has  not  yet  understood  what  to  the 
Apostle's  mind  was  righteousness,  or  discerned  its  identity 
with  faith.  Because  God  is  righteous  faith  in  God  (in  the 
light  of  what  God  is ;  and  out  of  that  light  there  is  na 
enlightened  faith  in  God)  is  righteousness,  and  has  in  it  all 
the  elements  of  the  righteousness  of  God. 

The  diversity  of  teaching  which  M.  Arnold  seems  pre- 
pared to  recognize  in  the  New  Testament  teachers  (holding 
it  so  great  in  reference  to  the  recognized  Pauline  Epistles- 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  as  to  be  conclusive  against 
the  idea  that  the  Epistle  was  St.  Paul's) — this  diversity 
has  no  existence  if  we  read  the  epistles  in  the  light  of  the 
one  truth  which  is  in  them  all.  As  to  questions  of  language 
or  style,  I  do  not  feel  qualified  to  have  an  opinion  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  But  I  know  cer- 
tainly that  I  am  in  one  Eternal  Light,  as  to  God  and  good- 
ness and  true  righteousness,  alike  in  being  taught  by  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and  in  being  taught  by  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans.     This,  of  course,  does  not  prove  that  they 


252  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

are  by  the  pen  of  one  man  ;  for  I  have  the  same  conscious- 
ness under  the  teaching  of  either  St.  Peter  or  St.  John  :  but 
it  does  away  with  M.  Arnold's  criticism;  and  does  so  on 
ground  that  affects  the  whole  question  of  the  claim  of 
revelation  to  be  revelation.  If  the  original  teachers  of 
Christianity  differed  as  he  seems  prepared  to  say  they  did  as 
to  what  they  taught,  we  cannot  regard  them  as  inspired  in 
any  sense  that  gives  a  divine  sanction  to  their  teaching.  For 
in  that  case  we  might  know  that  we  perfectly  understood 
what  they  say,  and  yet  have  the  question  "  Is  it  true  ?  "  still 
pressed  on  us ;  and  with  this  addition,  that  it  cannot  be  all 
true.  Paul's  wisdom,  John's  wisdom,  Peter's  wisdom,  would 
still  remain  to  us,  mixed  with  their  several  errors, — in  what 
proportions  Ave  knew  not.  But  if  individually  or  collectively 
they  had  dtill  a  savour  of  wisdom  sufficient  to  engage  us  in 
the  task  of  attempting  to  separate  the  gold  from  the  dross, 
and  that  we  were  conscious  in  ourselves  to  a  power  qualify- 
ing us  for  the  task,  that  would  be  an  altogether  different 
state  of  things  from  that  which  is  our  actual  position,  and 
that  which  determines  here  both  our  obligations  to  God  for 
His  goodness,  and  our  responsibilities  as  the  recipients  of 
His  goodness. 

The  peaceful  consciousness  of  being  in  one  and  the  same 
light  of  Eternal  Life  whichever  of  the  apostles  I  am  listening 
to,  is  to  me  an  evidence  that  one  Spirit — the  Spirit  of  God — 
speaks  to  me  by  them  all.  And  the  fact  that  I  have  only 
gradually  come  to  this  consciousness  in  no  way  affects  the 
certainty  which  accompanies  it.  Had  this  oneness  not  been 
a  reality  I  could  never  have  attained  to  the  knowledge  of  it. 
Nay,  when  I  consider  what  has  delayed  my  progress  towards 
this  mental  position,  the  explanation  of  the  delays  is  alto- 
gether confirmatory.  These  have  been  in  part  traditional 
misinterpretations.  Of  course  such  now  cause  me  no  diffi- 
culty, while  they  explain  how  others,  standing  where  I  stood, 


1868-69.  PROGRESS  IN  LIGHT.  253 

may  be  detained  by  them ;  and,  if  they  have  accepted  the 
idea  that  those  men  may  contradict  one  another,  the  deten- 
tion may  be  a  stopping  altogether  in  absolute  despair  of 
attaining  to  an  harmonizing  light.  But  the  delays  may  have 
been  in  part  caused  by  differences  in  the  mode  and  forjn  as 
distinguished  from  the  essence  of  the  teachings ;  and  such 
differences  being  seen  as  only  what  they  are,  the  essential 
unity  becomes  all  the  more  conclusive  evidence  of  one 
source.  And  as  the  retrospect  of  a  slow  progress, — now  seen 
in  the  light  attained, — whichever  of  these  hindrances  have 
caused  it,  must  have  a  confirmatory  power ;  so  does  it  also 
lighten  the  sense  of  remaining  difficulties,  strengthening  the 
hope  that  these  too  may  dissolve  in  more  perfect  light.  Not 
that  all  difficulties  are,  so  to  speak,  thus  soluble.  The  light 
given,  and  which  is  to  "  shine  more  and  more  unto  perfect 
day,"  is  the  light  of  life ;  the  fulness  of  which  may  well  com- 
port with  abiding  intellectual  darkness  as  to  what  is  no 
element  of  divine  life.  I  have  said  to  you  how  the  relation 
of  God  to  the  creature  seems  to  me,  as  respects  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  Creator,  what  we  may — or  rather  must — 
forever  live  outside  of:  while  I  believe  that  many  of  the 
mental  difficulties  which  oppress  men  spring  from  impatience 
of  this  outsideness. 

28th  November,  1869. 

[With  reference  to  difficulty  found  in  writing  sermons  :] 
My  first  freedom  and  enlargement  came  with  the  transition 
— gradual  and  almost  unconscious — from  writing  on  a  subject 
to  striving  with  a  people,  in  the  realization  of  an  ideal  for 
them  contrasting  with  the  real  discerned  in  them,  and  with 
the  hope  of  getting  for  that  "ideal"  the  place  of  that  "real." 
Even  while  the  ideal  was  yet  ill  defined,  and  the  real  imper- 
fectly understood,  and  the  appointed  means  for  accomplish- 
ing the  desired  change  were  only  becoming  visible  to  me, 
there  was  much  in  the  new  character  of  the  effort  that  made 


2  54  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

my  pulpit  preparations  to  be  more  easy,  as  well  as  my  pulpit 
speaking  and  action  more  animated ;  and  all  without 
thought  of  these  results. 

I  said  in  my  last  letter  that  I  too  felt  M.  Arnold  more 
serious  in  these  papers  than  I  expected.  But  I  do  not  know 
his  mind  so  well  as  to  have  been  entitled  to  have  had  any 
definite  expectations.  One  thing  pained  me  as  levity,  viz., 
the  way  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  confidence  of  those  who 
-say  what  they  say  as  certainly  learned  from  God,  as  if  this 
were  to  claim  a  familiarity  with  God's  mind,  as  with  the 
mind  of  "  one  in  the  next  street."  He  does  not  use  this 
lowering  comparison  in  reference  to  the  sacred  writers,  I 
know.  He  uses  it  with  reference  to  the  confidence  with 
which  systems,  extracted  from  or  built  on  the  Scriptures, 
have  been  set  forth.  But  the  assumption  of  a  revelation, 
when  realized  (producing  "solemn  sweet  reverence  in  the 
things  of  God,"  as  my  old  Row  favourite,  Henry  Dorney, 
speaks)  is  far  enough  removed  from  the  feeling  of  having 
"  one  in  the  next  street"  to  quote  or  refer  to.  Nearer  than 
*'■  the  next  street,"  even  nigh  to  our  spirits  within,  and  yet 
above  us  high  as  heaven  is  above  the  earth,  is  God  felt  to  be 
when  the  words  of  apostles  address  themselves  to  "  every 
man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God,"  and  we  hear  as  those 
who  wait  on  the  teaching  of  God,  and  who  are  open  to  that 
action  of  God  in  our  spirits  by  which  true  outward  teaching 
becomes  to  us  "  spirit  and  life." 

I  know  indeed  how  much  there  is  of  quoting  Scripture  as 
men  quote  a  law  book,  drawing  on  the  naked  intellect  only ; 
the  teaching  of  God  as  the  living  God  being  relegated  to 
the  region  of  miracle  and  exceptional  dealing.  But  while 
not  rejecting  the  thought  of  exceptional  dealings  amounting 
to  the  miraculous,  my  faith  acknowledges  as  normal,  and 
underlying  all  hope  in  preaching  as  all  responsibility  in 
hearing,  a  true  inward  divine  teaching  in  the  spirit,  enabling 
him  who  is  yielded  to  it,  and  in  the  measure  in  which  he  is 


1868-69.  MATTHEW  ARNOLD.  255 

yielded  to  it,  to  understand  and  welcome  Revelation.  Who, 
knowing  this  as  the  history  of  his  own  deepest  convictions, 
can  be  other  than  pained  by  Arnold's  lightness  and,  I  may 
say,  ridicule? 

But  is  not  this  (to  which  he  recurs  as  a  good  point)  trace- 
able to  a  more  serious  evil  than  such  levity  as  the  too 
frequent  confident  and  irreverent  dogmatism  of  theologians 
may  in  fact  excuse? — traceable,  I  mean,  to  a  resolving  of 
the  will  of  God  into  a  moral  law  to  which,  for  its  well-being, 
our  moral  nature  must  conform,  as  our  physical  to  the  law 
of  gravitation ;  by  which  process  the  personality  of  God  is 
lost.  No  one — and  I  cannot  but  fear  that  M.  Arnold  is 
such  a  one — to  whom  a  moral  law  working  as  a  law  is  a 
synonym  for  God,  can  really  think  of  the  teachings  of 
apostles  as  other  than  the  throwing  of  their  own  moral  per- 
ceptions and  recognitions  of  this  law  into  a  form  determined 
by  the  educational  prejudice  of  the  faith  of  a  living  God. 

As  a  reply  to  Renan  these  papers  are  good,  as  showing  in 
what  misconception  of  his  subject  Renan  writes  in  writing 
of  St.  Paul.  But  Arnold's  own  faith,  if  it  is  combined  with 
an  approach — though  but  a  distant  approach — to  a  truer 
understanding  of  St.  Paul,  has  a  blank  in  its  very  centre — 
even  where  God  should  be.  His  demand  for  science  is  to 
my  mind  vitiated  by  an  inadequate  and  most  defective  con- 
ception of  the  capacity  for  science,  in  the  large  sense  of  the 
word,  as  knowledge  of  what  is,  with  which  God  has  endowed 
us.  For  God  is,  and  he  recognizes  no  capacity  of  knowing 
this  :  God  speaks,  and  he  recognizes  no  capacity  of  hearing 
His  voice. 

4th  December,  1S69. 

[After  speaking  of  the  subject  of  the  Second  Advent,  and 
especially  of  the  words,  "  We  which  are  alive,  and  remain 
unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not  prevent  them  which 
are  asleep"  (i  Thes  iv.  15),  he  continues:]     The  real  diffi- 


256  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiii. 

culties  of  this  subject  appear  to  me  these  two :  (i)  The  holding 
forth  an  expectation  meant  to  press  on  every  mind,  as  being 
to  every  man  the  point  of  interest  in  the  future,  and  a  point 
between  which  and  him  there  was  no  certain  interval ;  while 
this  expectation  is  found  to  be  after  1800  years,  and  so  many 
generations,  still  unfulfilled.  But  this  difficulty  is  to  me 
sufficiently  removed  when  I  rise  out  of  the  individual  hope 
up  into  the  hope  of  the  church.  The  heart  knows  in  itself 
"  the  foreshortening  of  prophecy  "  when  the  prayer  "  Thy 
kingdom  come  "  is  offered  in  faith.  The  interest  of  the  future 
must  be  one  with  the  prayer  of  the  present.  No  doubt  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  is  but  a  step  towards  that  ultimate  hope 
which  is  seen  in  a  glass  darkly  in  the  words,  "  God  shall  be 
all  in  all."  But  it  is  revealed  as  so  great  a  step,  and  having 
so  great  results,  as  may  well  explain  why  it,  and  not  the 
individual's  own  death,  should  have  been  set  before  the 
church. 

(2)  But  though  this  first  difficulty  is  both  the  most 
obvious,  and  also  that  which  is  most  felt  under  the  influence 
of  the  ordinary  habit  of  mind  on  the  subject  of  salvation,  the 
great  difficulty  to  my  mind  is  that  which  will  be  felt  by  any 
one  to  whom  the  Philosophy  of  History  presents  the  claims 
of  a  real  science.  Not  that  I  know  all  that  this  new  science 
(claiming  to  be  the  highest  as  well  as  the  latest)  has  to  say 
for  itself:  while  I  must  be  slow  to  accept  from  it  conclusions 
which  seem  to  tend  to  substitute /^/V/i  in  its  "prospective 
development"  for  faith  in  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
that  reign  of  righteousness  which  that  coming  will  usher  in, 
I  must  move  warily  in  all  thinking  here  ;  knowing  how  this 
philosophy  seems  to  deal  with  the yfrj"/ coming  of  Christ,  and 
with  Historical  Christianity. 

Any  who  see  the  dawn  of  Christianity  as  within  the  com- 
pass of  mere  humanity,  and  as  that  to  the  production  of 
which  it  was  equal,  by  its  spontaneous  opening  of  its  eyes  to 
the  laws  of  the  Universe, — and  without  that  coming  of  God 


1868-69-  PHILOSOPHY  OF  HISTORY.  257 

into  humanity,  and  that  acting  of  God  in  humanity,  which 
is  the  subject  of  historical  Christianity, — any,  I  say,, 
who  thus  look  back,  substituting  what  is  to  them  a 
philosophy  for  our  faith,  may  also  look  forward  to  a  king- 
dom of  God  and  a  reign  of  Christ,  which  shall  have  a 
corresponding  merely  human  character;  the  " perfect  day " 
of  light  and  righteousness  of  their  system  being  in  harmony 
with  its  "  dawn."  But  seeing  how  their  system  to  my  mind 
finds  no  place  for  what  has  to  me  the  first  and  highest  place 
in  the  past,  and  that  they,  as  I  have  said,  look  forward  with 
the  same  eyes  with  which  they  look  back,  I  must  be  very 
careful  in  weighing  these  thoughts.  Yet — and  this  is  my  diffi- 
culty— I  cannot  put  their  thoughts  away  from  me  without 
examination,  seeing  how  many-sided  truth  is — how  manifold 
God's  wisdom  is — how  a  strong  hold  of  truth  in  one  region 
has  caused,  by  reason  of  our  narrowness,  inability  to  see  it  or 
hold  it  in  another.  The  saying  that  God  has  given  us  reli- 
gion through  the  Jews,  philosophy  through  the  Greeks, 
jurisprudence  through  the  Romans,  seems  true.  Yet  how 
often  have  men  been  blind  to  God's  giving  anything  through 
the  Greeks  or  Romans ;  and  when  God  did  give  religion 
through  the  Jews,  how  different  was  the  fonn  in  which  He  did 
so  from  the  anticipations  of  those  through  whom  He  gave  it ! 
Such  thoughts  make  me  slow  to  say  to  myself  what  form 
the  coming  of  the  Lord  will  take — what  the  reign  of 
righteousness. 


VOL.  II. 


258 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

1870. 

Death  of  Mr.  Erskine — Return  to  the  Gareloch — Letters  of  this  year — 
Froude's  Short  Studies — M.  Arnold  on  Puritanism — Memories  of 
Mr.  Erskine — His  Writings — Newman's  Grammar  of  Assent — 
Mr.  Voysey's  Case — Final  Restitution. 

The  spring  of  this  year  brought  an  event  which  touched 
Dr.  Campbell  very  nearly, — the  death  of  his  beloved  friend 
Mr.  Erskine.  The  two  friends  had  met  for  the  last  time  at 
the  beginning  of  February.  Dr.  Campbell  was  then  on  his 
way  to  visit  his  married  daughter ;  and  he  felt  that  he  must 
not  leave  Scotland  without  going  to  see  his  friend.  They 
spent  some  days  happily  together ;  and  when  they  had  said 
farewell  for  the  last  time,  Mr.  Erskine  called  Mrs.  Campbell 
back,  that  he  might  tell  her  what  pleasure  Dr.  Campbell's 
visit  had  given  him,  and  how  much  good  he  felt  it  had  done 
him. 

Not  long  after  Mr.  Erskine's  death,  Dr.  Campbell  carried 
out  the  plan  already  referred  to,  and  removed  his  home  to 
Rosneath. 

On  the  occasion  of  his  leaving  the  neighbourhood  of  Glas- 
gow, many  friends  wished  to  give  expression  to  the  regard 
which  they  felt  for  Dr.  Campbell;  and,  in  order  to  give 
effect  to  this  wish,  a  committee  was  formed,  which  included 


1870.  THE  FIELD  OF  PEACE.  259 

the  names  of  many  eminent  clergymen  and  laymen.  At  first 
it  was  proposed  that  a  public  dinner  should  be  given  ;  but 
Dr.  Campbell  felt  himself  unable  to  accept  this  proposal, 
while  very  sensible  of  the  kindness  which  had  sug- 
gested it.  Accordingly  this  intention  was  abandoned, 
and,  in  the  following  year,  a  testimonial  was  presented  to 
Dr.  Campbell,  of  which  more  will  be  said  in  the  next 
chapter. 

The  home  in  which  Dr.  Campbell  spent  the  last  two  years 
of  his  life  commanded  a  view  of  his  old  parish  of  Row, 
extending  from  Garelochhead  to  Helensburgh.  Before  he 
went  to  live  there,  he  wished  to  give  the  house  a  name  which 
should  include  sith  (pronounced  shee),  the  Gaelic  word  for 
peace ;  and,  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Campbell  of  Peaton, 
he  found  that  the  old  local  name  of  the  field,  on  which  the 
house  had  been  built  some  sixty  years  before,  was  Ach-na- 
sith,  the  Field  of  Peace.  Accordingly  he  adopted  this  name 
for  the  home  of  his  old  age,  modifying  the  spelling  of  the 
word,  for  the  benefit  of  those  unacquainted  with  the  rules  of 
Gaelic  orthography. 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  January  2nd,  1870. 
This  is  the  first  Sunday,  the  second  day,  of  this  new  year, 
1870;  which  brings  with  it  to  me  the  feeling  of  being  seventy, 
although  not  that  strictly  till  May  4th.  One  day  is  itself  as 
another,  and  every  day  a  great  gift.  Our  poetic  nature 
responds  to  the  words  of  the  poet,  "  The  sunrise  is  a  glori- 
ous birth."  Our  faith  yields  its  higher  response  to  the  words 
of  the  Psalmist,  "  Thy  mercies  are  new  unto  me  every  morn- 
ing." Nevertheless  I  find  some  help  in  numbering  my  days 
so  as  to  apply  my  heart  to  wisdom,  in  New-year's-days  and  in 
birthdays ;  though  not  shining  with  the  special  light  of 
Christmas  or  of  Easter.     One  practical  result  of  my  present 


26o  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

freshened  sense  of  the  lapse  of  time  is  a  purpose  that  relates 
to  you  :  viz.,  not  to  delay  the  expression  to  you  of  thoughts 
which  I  may  offer  with  any  hope  of  helping  until  something 
says  "  write  now,"  or  until  I  can  write  so  fully  as  I  would 
like  ;  for  my  temptation  is  to  hope  little  from  mere  hints. 
I  shall  now  put  down  some  things,  which  you  will  read  as 
disconnected,  though  drops  from  one  fountain. 

I.  I  feel  deeply  for ,^  feel  for  what  he  has  passed 

through,  and  without  the  comfort  of  putting  the  value  which 
it  may  have  to  himself  on  any  relief  which  taking  a  decided 
step  will  have  brought.  "  A  bribe  blinds  the  eyes  of  a 
judge."  The  conscientious  anxiety  not  to  be  bribed  may, 
however,  affect  the  balancing  of  the  mind  as  much  as  any 
positive  bribe.  Newman's  "  Loss  and  Gain  "  recalled  to  me 
my  experiences  long  ago  in  dealing  with  minds  that  have  been 
attracted  to  the  opposite  pole  of  adult  baptism.  The  struggle 
to  submit  to  loss — the  fear  of  being  blinded  by  the  desire  to 
be  spared  it — has  really  occupied  the  spirit  as  a  hindrance  to 
looking  with  a  single  eye  at  the  question  weighed.  So  when 
the  man  has  nerved  himself  for  the  sacrifice,  and  it  is  made, 
there  comes  an  instantaneous  relief,  which  readily  feels  as  a 
seal  put  on  the  step  taken.  So  Newman's  "  gain  "  when  he 
passed  over  to  the  Church  of  Rome — the  joy  and  freedom  of 
spirit  which  he  represents  as  flowing  in  upon  him — recalled 
to  me  the  testimony  of  Baptists,  which  they  have  urged  on 
me  as  an  argument  from  their  own  experience,  in  favour  of 
seeking  that  rebaptism  which  had  so  set  them  free.  In  time 
a  really  free  reconsideration  of  the  step  taken  may  lead  to  its 
being  seen  to  have  been  a  mistake — a  serious  mistake  ;  and 
the  error  in  judgment  now  confessed  may  be  traced  to  some 
form  of  haste  or  self-reliance,  that  has  induced  an  erroneous 
conception  of  duty  which  in  its  origin  has  been  blameworthy, 
however  remembered  conscientiousness  may  mitigate  the 
self-blame.  How  deeply  humbled  was  the  great  Apostle  of 
1  A  clergyman  who  had  lately  renounced  his  orders. 


1870.  "LOSS  AND  GAIN."  261 

the  Gentiles  at  every  remembrance  of  his  having  '"persecuted 
the  Church;"  although  he  had  been  conscientious,  and  found 
an  element  of  comfort  in  the  thought  that  he  had.  If  the 
Church  of  England  goes  to  pieces,  as  it  threatens  to  do,  and 

that  shall  live  to  see  this,  and  to  see  that  the  step  he 

has  now  taken  has  had  its  part  in  hastening  the  crisis,  he 
may  yet  be  looking  back  in  a  light  in  which  that  step  will  be 
remembered  with  much  pain,  though  it  may  not  be  un- 
mingled  pain. 

2.  .  .  .  I  know  by  experience  the  pressure  of  the 
personal  question  which  an  authorized  creed  forces  on  one 
occupying  the  place  of  a  teacher  in  the  church,  but  not 
seeing  eye  to  eye  with  the  church.     My  position  differed  from 

's  in  that  my  faith  was  going  beyond  that  of  the  church, 

while  his,  I  suppose,  comes  short  of  it.  But  the  pressure  on 
me  to  speak  according  to  what  was  to  me  higher  and  fuller 
light  was,  of  course,  a  more  authoritative  practical  impulse 
than  can  have  weighed  on  his  mind  urging  a  negative  pro- 
test. [After  referring  to  an  article  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette P[ 
You  will  know  that,  though  the  practical  counsel  "  to  abide 
in  the  church"  is  what  would  be  my  own,  and  is  given  in  the 
interest  of  the  nation  and  of  extension  of  light,  I  would  give 
it  as  realizing  the  progressive  nature  of  individual  enlighten- 
ment, and  the  importance  of  scope  being  given  for  the  free 
exercise  of  thought;  and  not  at  all  as  being  personally  in 
uncertainty  either  as  to  the  reality  of  a  revelation,  or  as 
to  the  clearness  of  its  teaching  considered  in  itself:  how- 
ever many  causes  have  tended  to  make  it  obscure  to  us — 
chiefly  hindrances  to  the  singleness  of  eye  with  which  we 
read.  The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  would,  I  think,  say : 
"  Remain  in  the  church.  The  freedom  of  thought  always 
claimed  by  its  highest  minds,  and  conceded  now  more  than 
ever,  saves  from  the  appearance  of  being  violating  an  engage- 
ment in  remaining  in  the  church,  while  availing  oneself  of 
that  recognized  freedom.     And  it  is  the  interest  of  truth  that 


262  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

you  should  thus  act."  This  may  be  said  as  conscientiously 
in  their  view  as  I  would  say  it  with  very  different  convictions; 
rather  I  should  say,  with  deep  convictions,  as  opposed  to 
doubts. 

3.  I  shall  not  get  through  all  my  contemplated  hints, 
which  I  have  allowed  so  to  accumulate.  ...  I  will 
content  myself  for  the  present  with  the  brief  expression  of 
one  other  thought,  wliich  I  have  desired  much  to  place  before 
you:  viz.,  what  appears  to  me  the  true  view  of  the  demand 
which  historical  criticism  makes  on  a  man  in  my  position. 
That  position  is  a  faith  in  revelation  which  has  many 
elements,  but  the  chief  element  in  which  at  this  moment  is 
the  character  of  that  which  the  Scriptures  teach.  The 
Scriptures  speak  to  me  as  the  offspring  of  God  and  as  the 
brother  of  men.  I  know  that  I  am  both.  I  can  accept  from 
the  Apostle  the  axiom  to  which  he  appeals  :  "  We  are  all 
His  offspring."  Listening  as  the  child  of  God  and  the 
brother  of  men,  I  weigh  all  that  is  addressed  to  me  in  both 
these  capacities.  It  is  spoken  to  me  as  that  which  the  con- 
sciousness of  what  I  am  in  these  two  aspects  of  my  being 
should  prepare  me  to  understand ;  and  I  feel  that  my  con- 
sciousness as  a  man  is  such  a  preparation.  I  do  understand  ; 
and  with  a  measure  of  understanding  which  justifies  faith  in 
that  which  is  addressed  to  me.  In  proportion  as  that  which 
is  spoken  becomes  more  and  more  clear  to  me  my  con- 
scious self  becomes  more  and  more  clear  to  me  also ; 
and  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  this  light  of  what  is 
spoken,  and  what  I  am  to  whom  it  is  spoken,  the  faith 
quickening  in  me  strengthens.  Further,  yielding  myself  to 
the  power  of  this  faith — suffering  it  to  work  in  me  according 
to  its  own  proper  nature — the  result  to  which  I  am  conscious 
proves  to  be  such  as  still  further  and  in  a  peculiar  way  justi- 
fies the  faith  to  the  power  of  which  I  am  yielded.  Antecedent 
to  faith  there  was  enough  present  to  my  spirit  to  justify  faith; 
making  it  a  reasonable  response  on  my  part.     Now  there  is 


i87o.  GROUNDS  OF  FAITH.  263 

added  in  the  conscious  eternal  life  quickened  in  me — which 
agrees  with  the  words,  "  He  that  believeth  hath  the  witness 
in  himself" — a  witness  in  addition  to  that  witness  of  God 
that  He  "  has  given  to  us  eternal  life  in  His  son  "  which 
faith  had  accepted.  It  needs  no  long  continued  hearing 
— it  needs  no  prolonged  experience  of  the  life  which  in 
the  hearing  of  faith  is  quickened — to  give  a  most  intelli- 
gent well-grounded  assurance.  Nevertheless,  being  what 
we  are,  the  trial  of  our  faith  is  precious ;  and  the 
hearing  continued  and  the  experience  prolonged  through 
days  and  months  and  years,  in  circumstances,  outward  and 
inward,  which  oppose  themselves  to  the  progress  and 
development  of  the  divine  life  in  us — making  faith  a  conflict 
and  the  life  of  faith  a  victory — there  comes  to  be  an  accumu- 
lation of  grounds  for  holding  fast  that  confidence  with  which 
we  had  started ;  and  which,  reasonable  at  the  first,  has 
become  indefinitely  more  and  more  reasonable. 

Now,  as  one  from  whom  this  is  all  the  testimony  of  a  wit- 
ness— not  the  propounding  of  a  theory — a  witness  speaking 
from  the  consciousness  of  more  than  forty  years,  my  position 
in  relation  to  the  claims  of  historical  criticism  is,  that  what- 
ever its  results  may  have  of  interest  in  many  secondary 
aspects  of  the  subject,  be  they  what  they  may,  they  can  in  no 
way  affect  my  faith.  They  cannot  touch  the  ground  on 
which  it  rested  at  the  first.  They  cannot  touch  the  countless 
fresh  grounds  superadded  since. 


Laurel  Bank,  i6th  January,  1870. 

.  .  .  Principal  Shairp  gave  me  a  very  poor  report  of 
my  beloved  Mr.  Erskine ;  which  led  me  to  write  to  Miss 
Gourlay,  to  consult  her  about  my  going  to  see  him.  A 
second  letter  from  Shairp,  after  a  second  visit — as  well  as 
Miss  Gourlay's  reply — has  so  far  relieved  me  that  I  do  not 


264  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

think  of  going  at  once ;  but  I  do  not  feel  that  I  could  leave 
Scotland  with  a  free  mind  without  having  first  seen  him,  as 
he  is  so  much  enfeebled,  and  spring  is  so  critical  a  season 
for  old  age.  Both  letters  are  a  comfort  and  relief  so  far  ; 
but  they  leave  this  conviction. 

.  .  .  Your  mother  has, about  finished  Froude's  first 
volume.^  He  is  a  beautifully  easy  clear  writer.  I  could 
wish  to  exchange  styles  with  him;  or  rather,  to  have  his  style 
without  depriving  himself  of  it.  But  I  do  not  feel  that  with 
the  same  thoughts  to  express  he  could  preserve  the  same 
ease  and  clearness. 

.  .  .  His  theory  of  Luther's  strength,  and  of  his  power 
over  others,  I  believe  to  be  quite  inadequate,  and  to  be 
short  of  the  truth ;  though  I  do  not  doubt  he  is  right  so  far. 
Here  he  comes  short  only  as  others  have  done.  Even  Scott 
always  seemed  to  me  to  have  a  defective  though  true  con- 
ception in  this  matter.  No  doubt,  "  Here  I  am  ;  I  can  do 
no  other;  so  help  me  God!"  is  the  manly  and  God-fearing 
and  conscience-honouring  attitude  of  a  true  man.  But  to 
find  the  secret  of  Luther's  might  in  this,  apart  from  the 
nature  of  the  truth  for  which  Luther  witnessed,  seems  to 
me  a  fundamental  error,  and  fruitful  of  error.  It  has  led  to 
that  placing  of  Luther  in  the  same  category  with  all  the  bold 
thinkers  who,  since  his  time,  have  uttered  their  convictions 
at  whatever  cost ;  procuring  for  him  an  estimation  with  the 
"  men  of  progress  "  ever  since  his  time,  which  has  not  im- 
plied any  fellowship  in  that  which  to  Luther  was  his  life  : 
and  thus  there  has  been  a  great  diminution  of  Luther's  value 
as  a  witness  for  Christ — a  witness  for  truth  in  the  sense  of 
our  Lord's  words,  "  I  am  the  truth  " — "  For  this  cause  came 
I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth." 
Christ's  "  good  confession  before  Pilate  "  must  be  understood 
— can  only  be  understood — in  the  light  of  what  He  was,  and 

^  The  1st  volume  of  Shoj-t  Studies  on  Great  Subjects, 


i870.  FROUDE'S  "SHORT  STUDIES."  265 

all  he  did  and  taught ;  and  the  goodness  of  Luther's  con- 
fession is  to  be  known  in  the  same  way. 

The  most  interesting  by  far  (at  least  it  was  so  to  me)  of 
all  these  papers  is  that  on  Job.  And  it  has  awakened  many 
thoughts  for  which  we  thank  Mr.  Froude.  Here  the  short- 
coming to  me  is  the  purely  negative  character  of  the  lesson 
recognized  as  that  taught ;  namely,  that  temporal  sufferings 
are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  special  tokens  of  divine  dis- 
pleasure ;  being  identical  with  the  teaching  which  he  recog- 
nizes in  our  Lord's  words,  "  Think  ye  that  they  were  sinners 
above  all  men  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  ?  I  tell  you,  nay^" 
You  may  remember  perhaps  my  complaining  of  a  sermon  of 
Dean  Stanley's  on  these  words,  which  he  cut  off  from  the 
words  added,  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish,"  So  the  positive  teaching  that  Job  received,  and 
which  was  his  gain  from  all  that  he  had  been  subjected  to, 
appears  to  me  to  be  indicated  to  us  by  the  words,  "  I  have 
heard  of  thee  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear :  but  now  mine  eye 
seeth  thee.  Wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust 
and  ashes." 

To  his  Son-in-Law. 

Laurel  Bank,  29th  January,  1870. 

Mrs.  Campbell  and  I  have  made  a  beginning  of  prepara- 
tion for  the  move,  and  I  am  looking  forward  to  some  quiet 
life  at  this  "  field  of  peace  "  if  the  Lord  unlL  If  kind  plan- 
ning in  all  of  you  who  have  planned  be  the  sowing  of  seed, 
of  which  such  quiet  is  the  fruit  according  to  its  kind,  it  may 
be  that  He  will  grant  such  an  evening  of  life  to  us  there.  We 
can  express  our  desires  to  Him — submissively  and  as  those 
who  would  not,  it  we  could,  take  the  matter  out  of  His 
hands. 


266  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

Laurel  Bank,  3otli  January,  1870. 

.  .  .  I  go  to  Edinburgh  (D.V.)  to-morrow,  Mrs. 
Campbell  accompanying  me  ;  and  after  some  days  there  we 
proceed  to  Manchester.  I  did  not  feel  that  I  could  go  so 
far  away  without  first  seeing  this  precious  friend.  He  cer- 
tainly is  failing  much.  He  is  ever  on  my  heart  before  our 
God,  more  than  any  one  else  has  ever  been ;  and  I  seek 
that  this  may  be  in  the  spirit  of  the  words,  "  Be  careful  for 
nothing,  but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with 
thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made  known  to  God ;  and 
the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall 
keep  your  hearts  and  minds  through  Jesus  Christ." 

.  .  .  I  see  you  are  not  yet  able  to  speak  of  yourself  as 
at  your  normal  level  as  to  fitness  for  work.  I  trust  you  are 
amenable  to  advice,  and  receive  a  physician  as  an  ordinance. 
The  excitement  of  intense  work  hides  from  us  the  injury  it 
is  causing,  as  to  which  we  must  believe  others. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Headlands,  February  22nd,  1870. 

We  see  the  darling  wee  Mary  much  advanced  since  we 
came.  She  articulates  no  words  as  yet,  but  she  is  not  there- 
fore without  a  considerable  command  of  expression,  and  we 
are  quick  to  interpret. 

The  interest  which  every  response  to  our  attempts  at 
communion  with  her  spirit  awakens  is  a  teaching  type  of  the 
interest  that  all  response  in  the  higher  life,  drawn  from  us 
by  our  Heavenly  Father's  divine  ways  of  dealing  with  us, 
must  awaken  in  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal  Love.  How 
varied  are  these  drawings  of  the  cords  of  love  !  Varied  in 
form,  one  in  essence, — that  essence,  "  My  son,  give  me  thine 


1870.  '' CORDS  OF  LOVE."  267 

heart."  Let  us  never  forget  this  divine  order.  Unless  our 
faith  receives  the  fathership  of  which  "  my  son  "  is  the  utter- 
ance ^fr^-/,  unless  we  let  it  sink  into  us  with  all  its  power  to 
quicken  love,  we  shall  be  vainly  attempting  to  obey  the  call 
to  give  God  our  hearts,  expecting  in  the  strength  of  a  sense 
of  duty  and  of  the  conviction  of  its  rightness  to  cherish  that 
filial  love  which  the  faith  of  the  Divine  Fatherliness,  and  the 
consciousness  that  belongs  to  knowing  ourselves  embraced 
by  it,  can  alone  quicken,  and  will  without  effort  quicken. 

You  must  have  often  heard  me  I  know  on  this  subject  ; 
heard  the  talk  in  old  age  of  one  who  in  his  youth  laboured 
as  having  a  special  calling  to  preach  the  love  of  God  as  the 
great  object  of  faith,  that  "  faith  which  worketh  by  love  and 
purifieth  the  heart  and  overcometh  the  world." 

But  we  are  very  slow  to  understand  this,  to  understand 
the  history  of  the  coming  into  existence  of  the  love  in  man. 
"  We  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us."  Let  not  recog- 
nition of  the  inherent  rightness  of  love  to  God  appear  enough 
to  quicken  such  love  in  us.  We  must  begin  with  the  faith 
that  "  God  is  love."  We  must  have  these  words  filled  with 
meaning  to  our  minds  and  hearts  by  the  manifestation  of 
Divine  Love  in  Christ,  if  we  are  really  to  come  to  the  blessed- 
ness of  loving  God,  of  dwelling  in  love,  and  so  dwelling  in 
God.  Love  is  only  then  pure  in  us  when  it  flows  into  us 
direct  from  the  fountain  of  the  Divine  Love,  faith  being  our 
openness  to  this  inflowing  of  this  water  of  life. 


To  his  Second  Son. 

Partick,  9th  March,  1870. 

Your  mother  and  I  came  home  on  the  25th.  Next 
morning's  post  brought  me  a  letter  from  Mr.  M'Grigor, 
written  on  behalf  of  a  committee  of  friends  who  requested 
me  to  dine  with  them  at  Maclean's  Hotel  on  the  30th  inst. 


268  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

The  occasion  specified  was  my  being  about  to  leave 
Glasgow.  I  have  been  so  much  a  nobody  in  Glasgow  all 
these  thirty-seven  years,  that  I  thought  I  would  pass  away 
socially  as  a  knotless  thread.  But  the  movement  was  only 
one  of  friends  who  sought  an  excuse  for  expressing  what 
many  in  Glasgow  and  elsewhere  are  feeling  to  me,  not 
socially,  but  on  account  of  my  books.  I  at  first  felt  as  if  I 
must  accept,  and  so  express  my  response  to  the  kindness  of 
the  proposal,  and  I  wrote  to  Mr.  M'Grigor  accordingly. 
But  after  my  letter  was  posted  many  misgivings  which  had 
been  working  in  me  were  brought  to  a  head  by  a  letter 

from  ,   and  I  went  in  to   Mr.  M'Grigor  to  recal  my 

acceptance ;  and  was  thankful  to  find  myself  with  him  in 
time  to  prevent  any  communication  to  the  committee.  I  am 
not  sorry  that  my  first  impulse  to  accept  has  been  expressed, 
as  it  shows  how  I  welcomed  and  valued  their  interest  in  me. 
My  decision  satisfies  me  more  and  more  as  it  presents  new 
aspects.  It  has  cost  me  not  a  little  in  feeling,  but  I  am 
very  thankful  for  the  occurrence  altogether.  Of  course  I 
could  not  interpret  the  invitation  as  more  than  a  moral 
testimony  to  the  spirit  in  which  I  have  written.  It  could 
not  be  viewed  as  the  expression  of  an  intellectual  apprehen- 
sion and  acceptance  of  my  teaching.  Hence  a  difficulty  in 
acknowledging  the  compliment.  This,  however,  I  thought 
I  saw  my  way  to  managing  if  I  could  be  assured  that  I 
could  at  the  time  keep  to  the  track  mentally  traced  out.  I 
would  rather  not  speak  at  all  than  so  speak  as  in  the  least 
degree  to  disturb  the  mental  image  of  me  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  only  knew  me  as  a  \\Titer.  To  them  let  me  still 
continue  a  voice  and  no  more. 

I  am  alone  at  home  with  you.  Your  mother  went  down 
to  Achnashie  to  return  in  the  evening.  She  is  having  a  very 
fine  spring  day,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will  come  back  longing 
for  the  move. 


i87o.  M.  ARNOLD  ON  PURITANISM.  269 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

Laurel  Bank,  8th  March,  1870. 

.  .  .  I  have  read  Arnold's  paper  on  "Puritanism  in  its 
relation  to  the  Church  of  England."  My  early  school  was 
that  of  Tillotson,  as  embodied  in  my  beloved  father's  teach- 
ing in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it.  My  first  conscious  transition 
was  from  giving  the  first  place  to  good  works  to  giving  that 
place  to  faith.  My  second  and  first  thoughts  are  combined 
in  my  third  and  present,  viz.,  the  identity  of  goodness  in 
the  highest  sense  and  faith  in  the  highest  sense;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  identity,  as  a  condition  of  spirit,  of  being  of  the 
mind  of  Christ,  and  beholding  the  glory  of  God  in  Christ. 

Pope  says — 

"For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight  ; 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

Arnold  seems  to  me  as  one  who  might  adopt  Pope's  words. 
Doubtless  a  life  in  the  right — i.e.,  the  life  of  Christ  in  us — 
implies  a  right  faith — i.e.,  the  faith  of  Christ  as  our  life. 
But  that  was  not  Pope's  meaning;  nor  is  it  Arnold's,  I  fear; 
though,  if  he  were  to  superadd  to  theology  and  religion  the 
philosophy  of  which  he  thinks  us  scarce  yet  capable,  he 
would  surely  be  forced  to  connect  what  men  believe  and 
what  men  are  as  he  does  not  now  do.  I  have  long  felt,  in 
reference  to  the  two  tendencies  which  divide  the  church, 
that  what  thos  eneed  to  learn  who  contend  for  goodness  is 
the  true  divine  ideal  of  goodness. 

loth  March. 

.  .  .  Your  mother  was  yesterday  at  Achnashie,  and 
came  home  full  of  its  beauty ;  but  it  will  be  a  fortnight  yet 
before  we  can  begin  to  move  things.     .     .     . 

How  this  amount  of  sale  of  this  third  edition  ^  has  filled 

^  Of  Nature  of  the  Atonement. 


270 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 


me  with  thankfulness.  My  gracious  Lord  and  Master  has 
gathered  for  me  a  goodly  congregation  !  With  how  many 
minds  have  I  now  been,  and  am  I  now  being  brought  in 
contact  ! 

To  Mr.  Duncan. 

Laurel  Bank,  13th  March,  1870. 

I  have  from  Mary  a  letter  written  on  Friday,  when 
beloved  Mr.  Erskine  was  again  quiet  and  free  from  suf- 
fering. 

I  am  very  thankful  for  her  words  in  seeking  to  help  me  to 
realize  how  he  is  :  *•  Peaceful,  gentle,  calm,  clear ; "  and 
when  he  thought  the  end  was  come,  "  naming  loved  ones." 

Dear,  dear  brother !  I  am  unable  to  say  to  myself  with 
confidence  whether  it  was  in  1827  or  1828  that  dear  Scott 
took  me  to  him,  as  to  one  who  knew  that  "love  of  God"  in 
which  we  were  seeing  eye  to  eye.  How  all-satisfying  the 
faith  that  "  God  is  love  "  felt  to  me  then.  "All  the  sequel" 
seemed,  as  Gambold  says,  "  well  weighed."  And  it  was  no 
fond  illusion.  Upwards  of  forty  years'  trial  of  that  faith  has 
only  deepened  it,  if  it  has  not  heightened  it ;  and  if  the 
clouds  and  darkness  that  are  around  the  Throne  have  from 
time  to  time  drawn  to  themselves  an  attention  which  I  gave 
not  to  them  then,  yet  the  Throne  itself,  and  the  Lamb  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne,  have  ever  shone  in  clear  light :  and 
the  faith  has  been  steadfast  that  "  God  is  light,  and  in  Him 
is  no  darkness  at  all." 

How  certain  it  is  that  "the  trial  of  our  faith  is  precious," 
yielding,  as  it  does,  increase  of  self-knowledge,  with  increased 
knowledge  of  our  God.  How  different  during  these  years, 
in  which  our  lives  have  been  so  linked  together,  have  been 
the  outward  histories  of  this  beloved  friend  and  myself; 
with,  doubtless,  corresponding  inward  differences.  Yet  one 
Love  has  watched  over  us  both,  has  been  choosing  for  us 


1870.  DEATH  OF  MR.  ERSKINE.  271 

our  several  trials  of  faith,  and  has  been  revealing  Itself  and 
endearing  Itself  to  our  souls  in  them  and  through  them. 

"  God  raised  Christ  from  the  dead,  and  gave  Him  glory, 
that  our  faith  and  hope  might  be  in  God."  How  little 
understood  is  "justification  by  faith."  So  right  the  attitude 
of  the  human  spirit  implied,  so  righteous  the  divine 
acceptance. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

23rd  March,  1S70. 

My  dear  Bishop, — Beloved  Mr.  Erskine  died  on  Sunday 
evening  at  between  half-past  nine  and  ten  o'clock.  I 
received  my  niece's  letter  yesterday,  but  only  accomplished 
writing  (with  it)  to  my  sister. 

The  solemn,  sad,  blessed  event  you  will  know  from  the 
newspapers.  The  light  that  cheered  the  close  to  the  dear 
ones  round  him  while  they  saw  his  face  and  heard  his  words 
of  faith  and  of  love, — all  that  has  made  me  add  "  blessed  " 
to  the  other  words  that  came  to  me  as  a  bereaved  believing 
friend — all  this  you  may  not  know  unless  I  make  some 
attempt  to  share  with  you  the  comfort  which  my  niece's 
letters  from  day  to  day  have  been  to  myself. 

There  was  nothing  but  peace — trust — love,  with  perfect 
clearness  of  mind — perfect  realization  of  being  parting  with 
this  life,  and  being  passing  into  that  which  is  to  come  : — in 
one  sense  to  come,  but  in  the  deepest  sense  it  was  his  already. 
The  words  of  faith  and  hope  and  love  which  he  spoke  he 
would  have  spoken  many  years  ago, — even  before  I  first 
knew  him,  forty-three  years  ago.  But  they  have  been  deep- 
ening in  meaning  to  him  through  all  trials  of  his  faith  since 
he  first  trusted  in  Christ.     . 

I  send  you  these  few  words  for  your  comfort  in  what  I 
know  is  to  you  a  true  sorrow. — Ever  yours  most  truly, 

J.  M*L.  Campbell. 


272 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 


Partick,  25th  March,  1870. 


My  John  and  my  James, — My  beloved  Mr.  Erskine  died 
last  Sunday  evening.  A  time  of  comparative  ease  and  free- 
dom from  suffering,  combined  with  great  weakness  and 
occasional  symptoms  that  seemed  to  himself  and  to  those 
around  him  to  intimate  the  close,  spread  the  consciousness 
of  a  deathbed  over  so  many  days  and  nights  that  to  him 
and  to  them,  and  to  us  to  whom  there  was  a  letter  almost 
every  day,  it  has  been  a  prolonged  parting;  giving  occasion 
for  oft-repeated  utterances  of  his  faith  and  hope  and  love, 
which  are  to  us  all  memories  of  our  latest  communion  with 
him  here,  which  solemnly  and  most  sweetly  connect  what  we 
remember  as  his  past  life  among  us  with  our  hope  for  that 
on  which  he  has  now  entered :  our  hope,  as  his  hope,  being 
an  anchor  of  the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast,  having  its  hold 
within  the  veil. 

Personally,  I  have  been  for  a  considerable  time  brought 
more  under  this  beloved  friend's  burden  than  I  had 
ever  before  felt  myself  to  be  in  the  case  of  any  other. 
And  when  that  burden  became  so  much  sympathy  tvith 
a  dying  brother  who  was  peacefully  meeting  death  in  the 
strength  of  the  Eternal  Life,  it  brought  with  it  to  my- 
self a  realization  of  death,  and  of  the  elements  of  the 
strength  for  dying  which  is  in  the  faith  which  quickens 
and  sustains  in  us  the  consciousness  of  the  Eternal  Life 
as  what  death  cannot  touch  :  a  realization  which  has  been 
the  nearest  thing  to  the  mental  part  of  dying  that  I  have 
yet  known. 

I  trust  that  this  experience,  which  I  have  felt  great  gain, 
may  abide  with  me  in  its  fruits.  That  nearness  to  death 
which  is  in  actual  very  dangerous  illness  is  very  different ;  as 
such  real  nearness  is  more  a  reality  to  those  around  one 
often  than  to  oneself — most  severe  illness  paralysing,  rather 
than  quickening  thought.     There  was,  however,  no  paralys- 


1870.  MEMORIES  OF  MR.  ERSKINE.  273 

ing  of  this  kind  in  his  case,  but  clear  intelligent  jjeaceful 
realization. 

You  both  knew  him  in  a  true  sense,  though  inadequate  ; 
and  this  knowledge  will  give  special  interest  to  this  most 
imperfect  attempt  to  say  something  of  the  much  that  I  am 
thinking  and  feeling.  Forty-three  years  of  a  friendship  be- 
gun in  the  light  of  the  love  of  God  to  man,  and  having, 
through  its  whole  course,  its  interests  in  the  aspects  which 
existence  presents  in  the  light  of  that  love,  ought  to  make 
parting  in  that  same  light  of  love  easy,  parting  with  one  who 
is  exchanging  the  earnest  of  the  inheritance  for  the  inheri- 
tance itself 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  26th  March,  1870. 

.  ,  .  I  write  myself  because  I  feel  it  a  comfort  to 
speak  to  all  my  children  something  of  the  fulness  that  is  in 
my  heart  at  this  time,  when  there  has  been  taken  from  me 
this  beloved  friend,  who  for  forty-three  years  has  occupied 
in  my  higher  life  a  special  place  which  only  one  other — 
Mr.  Scott — has  shared  with  him.  I  have  had,  and  there 
remain  to  me  still,  near  and  dear  personal  friends  of 
whose  personal  interest  and  religious  sympathy  I  am 
perfectly  assured.  I  have  also  "  fellow-labourers,"  who 
more  or  less  fully  share  in  my  faith  of  that  love  of  God  to  men 
which,  since  I  have  known  it,  it  has  been  the  great  work  of 
my  life  to  commend;  and  I  trust  I  have  valued  and  do  value 
all  such  gifts  of  love.  But  the  several  values  of  other  dear 
friends  were  in  some  sense  combined  in  them.  And  as  to 
the  highest  bond — highest  because  nearest  to  our  bond  to 
our  Lord — I  met  them  both  forty-three  years  ago,  about  the 
same  time,  as  the  first  who  gave  a  full  response  to  all  that 
was  in  my  heart  of  the  joy  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ; 
having  before — each,  and  each  separately — come  to  the 
VOL.  II.  s 


274  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

same  light  of  the  divine  love  in  which  I  was  rejoicing.  A 
friendship  begun  in  this  light  of  life,  and  continued  through 
so  many  years  in  the  same  light,  may  well  have  prepared  our 
hearts  for  that  trial  of  parting  to  which  all  communion  of 
heart  here  is  liable ;  and  I  who  have  survived  them  both 
must  feel  thankfulness  my  deepest  consciousness  in  thinking 
of  their  having  passed  from  time  to  eternity — from  the 
hope  and  the  foretaste  of  the  inheritance  to  the  inheri- 
tance itself. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

Partick,  14th  April,  1870. 

This  will  be  my  last  letter  from  Laurel  Bank.  What 
future  awaits  us  at  Achnashie  does  indeed  feel  like  a 
postscript  to  the  epistle  of  our  life.  Yet  its  contents  may  be 
both  good  and  important. 

At  present  we  are  rather  taken  back  into  the  past  however, 
and  are  each  filled  with  memories,  which,  while  precious  and 
treasured,  it  seems  wiser  not  to  dwell  on,  but  just  thankfully 
to  look  back  at,  with  the  reflection  that  they  have  done  their 
part  in  handing  us  on  to  a  present  which,  but  for  them, 
could  not  be  what  it  is. 

How  strangely  we  are  inclined  to  look  back  on  past  stages 
in  our  journey  of  life,  regretting  that  it  was  impossible  to  rest 
in  them ;  as  your  Aunt  used  to  feel  the  deliciousness  of 
babes  so  much  as  half  to  wish  that  that  form  of  being  might 
continue.  But  the  youth,  being  well-conditioned,  is  better 
than  the  child,  and  the  man  than  the  youth,  if  each  succes- 
sive present  has  received  from  the  "pasts"  what  they  were 
intended  to  furnish  to  it. 

Seventy  years  will  not  doubtless  have  accumulated  all  that 
rich  store  of  preparedness  for  the  highest  form  of  old  age  at 
Achnashie,  which  it  was  in  them  to  have  furnished.  Yet  do 
I  thankfully  contemplate  what  they  have  yielded ;  remem- 


1870.  RETURN  TO  THE  GARELOCH.  275 

bering  also  that  the  past,  recalled  in  the  fuller  light  of  the 
present,  will  yield  much  to  the  spirit,  as  to  which,  when  it 
was  passing,  the  wisdom  was  lacking  that  would  have  dis- 
covered and  extracted  it.  There  doubtless  is  a  "  wise  for- 
getting," the  opposite  of  a  foolish  living  in  the  past ;  but  there 
is  also  a  wise  remembering,  which  is  no  unimportant  element 
in  a  wise  living  in  the  present. 

We  are  doing  what  we  can  to  help  you  to  share  our 
thoughts  and  feelings  about  my  beloved  friend  Mr.  Erskine, 
by  sending  you  such  notices  of  him  as  his  death  has  brought 
out  in  the  papers.  But  your  mother  and  I  pass  from  the 
perusal  of  them,  each  and  all,  to  the  much  that  we  have 
known  and  loved,  and  would  like  to  see  recorded,  of  which 
these  do  not  speak.  You  have  no  idea  how  solemn  I  feel 
these  days,  and  how  this  return  to  the  Gareloch,  small  a 
matter  as  it  is  in  comparison,  combines  with  feelings  related 
to  him,  there  first  my  friend,  who  has  been  taken  away  to  the 
region  which  knows  no  such  alterations. 

"  Lord,  teach  us  so  to  number  our  days  as  to  apply  our 
hearts  unto  wisdom."  Nothing  can  be  more  barren  and 
fruitless  than  ordinary  reflections  on  the  lapse  of  time,  and 
the  changes  that  come  with  it,  being  altogether  negative  and 
unpractical.  But  we,  having  received  a  kingdom  which  can- 
not be  removed,  will  always  pass  to  the  thought  of  that 
kingdom  from  all  that  is  moved,  with  a  deeper  sense  of  its 
value;  value  because  of  what  //  is,  not  merely  because  // 
abides ;  but,  being  what  it  is,  that  it  abides  enhances  its 
value. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

Laurel  Bank,  i8th  April,  1870. 

I  suppose  this  will  be  my  last  letter  bearing  date  from  this 
home  of  your  childhood.  The  sun  shines  on  our  departure. 
Margaret  writes  full  of  the  beauty  of  the  home  about  to 


276  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

receive  us  :  where,  since  she  went  as  a  pioneer,  she  has  had 
only  sunshine. 

How  the  memories  of  all  your  young  days  here  seem  writ- 
ten upon  all  that  meets  the  eye.  I  am  saying  to  you  all,  for 
I  know  this  to  be  the  case,  that,  though  yourselves  so  much 
the  interest  of  Laurel  Bank  to  your  mother  and  me,  you  do 
not,  cannot  now,  share  this  interest ;  though  you  may  here- 
after, when  you  look  back  through  a  vista  of  many  years, 
when  you  shall  have  reached  the  wateished  of  life,  whence  we 
look  down  into  the  future  as  what  we  are  to  descend  into, 
as  well  as  down  into  the  past  which  has  been  hopeful  ascent; 
pausing  to  weigh  both  as  in  a  balance  ere  we  are  now  to 
■descend.  For  by  that  time  the  enchantment  which  Camp- 
bell says  distance  lends  to  the  view,  shall  have  begun  to 
invest  iht  past^  and  life's  many  disappointments  have  begun 
to  disenchant  the  future.  But  I  must  not  write  in  this  strain 
of  what  I  may  call  natural  sentiment,  for  fear  I  seem  to  have 
gathered  from  experience  nothing  but  the  disenchantment 
of  life's  young  hopes.  I  bless  God  that  to  me  old  age's 
wakhtg  consciousness  is  infinitely  sweeter  than  the  brightest 
dreams  of  early  days.  I  have  not  found  the  light  of  hope 
ever  waxing  dimmer, — that  of  memory  becoming  only  more 
sadly  bright  when  middle  age  has  passed.  No :  only  this 
has  not  been  my  experience,  not  because  time  as  apart  from 
eternity  has  been  more  satisfying  to  me  than  to  some  others, 
but  because  I  so  long  ago  learned  no  longer  to  live  in  time 
apart  from  eternity ;  taught  to  live  the  Eternal  Life  now  in 
time.  This,  my  own  experience,  will,  I  trust,  be  the  experi- 
ence of  all  my  children  also.  Yet  so  much  of  natural  sen- 
timent I  wish  may  live  in  you  all,  as  will  make  your  old 
home  more  interesting  hereafter  than  it  yet  is.  And  now, 
after  this  parting  word  of  benediction  to  Laurel  Bank,  let  me 
look  fonvard,  as  one  being  transplanted,  and  say,  that  my 
children  will,  I  trust,  be  roots  of  life  to  me  at  Achnashie  also ; 
and  this  wee  sweet  fibre  (Mary  Campbell  Crum),  a  feeder  of 


l870.  HIS  SEVENTIETH  BIRTH-DAY.  277 

a  sweet  life  to  me  there,  investing  that  home  with  the  charm 
peculiar  to  childhood. 


To  his  Son-in-Law. 

ACHNASHIE,  ROSNEATH,  4th  May,  187O. 

My  seventieth  birthday  !  I  cannot  adopt,  I  confess,  the 
words  of  the  patriarch,  "  few  and  evil,"  as  descriptive  of  the 
"  days  of  the  years  of  my  pilgrimage."  They  seem  many, 
and  have  been  often  good.  But  their  true  value  rs  to  be 
measured  by  their  fruit  in  the  future,  and  not  by  what  they 
are  in  retrospect ;  and  that  is  but  in  small  j^art  seen  here. 

My  dear  William,  how  exceedingly  your  sympathies  have 
been  moved  as  a  loving  family  !  I  have  been  feeling  much 
with  your  sister  in  what  she  may  be  feeling  in  seeing  you  all 
leaving ;  at  least  those  of  you  whom  the  near  prospect  of 
the  end  could  alone  justify  in  staying.  It  will  have  suggested 
to  her  that  release  may  be  further  off  than  she  looked  for. 
Yet  when  we  so  know  God  that  we  can  triist  Hwi  for  eter- 
nity, we  can  also  trust  Him  as  to  a  little  more  of  time;  while 
I  trust  that  the  lengthened  time  may  be  with  diminished 
suffering.  How  difficult  it  is  to  believe  truly  that  the  divine 
love  which  is  appointing  the  suffering  is  greater  than  the 
human  love  in  ourselves  that  is  sympathizing  in  it. 


To  his  Second  Son. 

ACHNASHIE,  5th  May,  1870. 

We  came  down  here  on  the  Monday  after  my  last  letter, 
as  we  then  proposed. 

I  have  found  the  transition  easier,  and  got  into  my  new 
niche  more  as  into  my  natural  place  than  I  at  all  expected. 

This  place  is  so  beautiful,  and  we  have  seen  it  in  almost 
constant  sunshine,  though  with  considerable  alternations  of 


278  MEMORIALS.  chap,  xi v. 

heat  and  cold ;  the  north  wind  blowing  for  part  of  the  time, 
and  reaching  us  still  cold,  after  depositing  its  freight  of  snow 
on  the  poor  Cobbler's  bald  pate  at  the  head  of  Loch  Long. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

ACHNASHiE,  2nd  July,  1870. 

One  thought  of  which  I  desired  to  give  you  the  benefit, 
has  been  waiting  to  get  a  place  in  a  letter.  I  mean  the  limits 
within  which  the  promise,  "  Thou  shalt  hear  a  voice  saying, 
This  is  the  way,"  must  be  understood — that  it  is  absolute  only 
as  to  what  we  may  call  the  path  of  our  spirit,  i.e.,  abiding  in 
the  mind  of  Christ ;  but  not  as  to  what  is  the  pure  exercise 
of  judgment  in  determining  all  practical  steps ;  as  to  which 
we  are  not  promised  infallibility,  although,  while  keeping  the 
heart  with  all  diligence,  we  may  expect  to  be  able  to  judge 
better  even  in  these  matters  also,  because  of  singleness  of 
eye,  and  rightness  of  purpose. 

I  cannot  now  enlarge  on  this.  But  a  right  discrimination 
here  will  save  us  from  forms  of  undue  self-blame  from  which 
I  have  seen  many  suffer.  I  may  propose  to  myself  that  my 
heart  shall  be  right,  and  may  hope,  in  the  strength  which 
setting  the  Lord  before  me  imparts,  to  attain  to  this  in  great 
measure  :  though  my  practical  decision  remain  liable  to  my 
limits  of  capacity  and  knowledge. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

ACHNASHIE,  ROSNEATH,  9th  July,   1870. 

I  now  return  (by  the  first  post  after  receiving  it)  the 
remarkable  letter  which  you  have  sent  for  my  perusal. 

I  see  the  writer  holds  pretty  nearly  the  Lutheran  doctrine, 
as  set  forth  by  the  Swedish  Bishop  of  whom  I  have  spoken 
to  youS  in  his  "  Dogmatics."  It  would  take  some  time  and 
■•  Martensen. 


1870.  MR.  ERSKINE'S  WRITINGS.  279 

labour  to  say  anything  to  any  purpose  in  opposition  to  a 
form  of  Theological  Ontology  which  blends  matter  and  mind, 
flesh  and  spirit,  and  indeed  the  creation  and  God  in  a  way 
that  resolves  all  things  into  one,  and  nullifies  those  capaci- 
ties of  distinctive  perceptions  which  seem  to  teach  that  there 
are  distinct  regions  which  these  several  words  (mind,  matter, 
&:c.)  belong  to.  I  have  read  (taking  them  in  as  they  are 
published)  all  your  numbers ;  ^  but  I  do  not  remember 
what  there  is  to  justify  the  ascription  of  a  negative  charac- 
ter to  that  on  the  Eucharist ;  and  I  do  not  know  how  far 
the  same  thing  would  be  said  of  "  the  Bread  of  Life  "  by 
your  correspondent.  But  to  my  own  mind,  the  conception 
I  have  of  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ 
is  in  the  strictest  sense  positive. 

Your  letter  from  Broom  is  still  unacknowledged.  I 
expect  the  unfinished  book,  on  which  beloved  Mr.  Erskine 
bestowed  so  much  labour,  will  be  prepared  for  the  press  by 
Miss  Gourlay ;  and  an  edition  of  all  his  books  is  thought  of 
I  hope  the  thought  will  be  acted  upon.  This  will  be  the 
best  monument  to  his  memory  ;  and  I  despair  of  seeing  any 
other  that  will  at  all  be  worthy  of  him.  No  man  is  able  to 
say  to  those  who  knew  him  not  what  he  was ;  no  man  could 
say  this  to  those  who  knew  him  in  a  way  that  they  will  feel 
•satisfying. 

As  to  the  development  of  his  religious  thought,  I  trust  the 
series  of  essays  read  consecutively  will  tell  it  clearly  enough 
to  capable  readers.  This  development  I  have  often  attempted 
to  illustrate  in  conversation ;  and  to  this  lower  task  I  might 
be  equal  were  it  called  for ;  but  its  natural  place  would  be 
in  a  preface  to  the  contemplated  edition  of  his  works. 
I  might,  I  say,  be  equal  to  it  if  adhering  strictly  to  the  illus- 
tration of  a  mental  progress  ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  for  me 
to  write  about  him  at  all,  and  not  to  attempt  more  than  it 

would  be  wise  in  me  to  attempt 

^  i.e.,  the  numbers  of  Present  Day  Papers, 


28o  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

Such  varied  intercourse  with  thoughtful  and  unfettered 
minds  as  you  have  been  having,  could  not  but  be  interesting; 
while  increasing  the  difficulty  of  responding  duly  to  the 
obligation  to  "prove  all  things."  I  am  just  about  to  read 
Dr.  Newman's  Grammar  of  Assent,  to  which  I  desire  to 
give  an  open  ear ;  though  it  is  very  difficult  for  me  to  expect 
light  on  such  a  subject  from  one  who  holds  that  "  if  it  was 
the  purpose  of  God  to  give  us  certain  knowledge  of  Himself, 
such  a  purpose  implied  such  an  ordinance  as  an  infallible 
church." 

To  Ms  Second  Son. 

28th  July. 

What  a  constant  call  to  thankfulness  there  is  for  us  in 
your  life  together,  which  brightens  and  lightens  to  each  of 
you  his  life  apart — with  you  work,  with  James  study. 

These  are  your  oiitward  lives  apart ;  which  yet  have  meet- 
ing places  also,  as  you  will  talk  to  him  of  your  work,  and  he 
to  you  of  his  studies  ;  and  the  inner  "  lives  apart "  have  I 
trust  many  meeting  places  also.  "  They  that  feared  the 
Lord  spake  often  one  to  another." 

Telegrams,  at  all  events,  and  fuller  reports  also  will  pro- 
bably by  this  time  have  included  you  in  the  ever- widening 
circle  of  English  comment  on  this  portentous  continental 
war.  The  "  futures  "  that  loom  in  the  distance,  as  possible 
issues  of  the  great  struggle  impending,  are  the  unification 
and  consolidation  of  Germany  and  the  humbling  of  France, 
or  the  further  exalting  of  the  French  Empire  and  the 
humbling  of  Prussia  and  disintegrating  of  Germany. 

I  doubt  not  that  a  third  casting  of  the  fused  peoples  is  in 
the  day  dreams  of  our  Red  Republicans,  even  the  solidarity 
of  the  peoples  in  its  appropriate  form  of  an  immense  republic. 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  good  which  our  God  will  bring  out 
of  the  evil  will  have  its  visibility  in  any  one  of  these  results. 


1870.  HISTORICAL  CRITICISM.  281 

But  that  it  will  be  good  nevertheless  I  believe,  and  with- 
out the  comfort  of  this  faith  the  thought  of  the  impending- 
miseries  would  be  sad  indeed. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  27th  July,  1870. 

I  remember  Dean  Stanley  saying  to  me  that  "  we  must  be 
thankful  for  such  portions  of  the  epistles  as  no  criticism 
brought  into  question,"  and  my  feeling  at  the  moment  unable 
to  sympathize  in  a  faith  whose  foundation  was  so  much 
critical  as  to  feel  this  an  important  matter ;  (feeling,  as  I  did, 
that  no  critical  doubts  as  to  the  13th  of  ist  Corinthians  would 
affect  its  value  to  me.)  But  I  see  that  all  that  helps  us  to 
get  into  the  atmosphere  of  the  facts  of  existence  in  which  the 
first  Christians  were  living  is  valuable,  doing  so  far  for  us 
what  these  facts  did  for  them;  i.e.,  saving  them  from  all  pos- 
sibility of  resolving  Historical  Christianity  into  a  myth,  or 
any  approach  to  such  a  mental  position.  Doubtless  that 
very  advantage  was  enjoyed  at  a  risk — the  risk  against 
which  the  apostle  guards  the  Corinthians,  the  risk  of  valuing 
gifts  above  charity — nay,  resting  in  the  possession  of  gifts, 
not  distinguishing  between  them  and  that  "  life  "  to  which 
they  owed  their  value,  but  in  comparison  with  which  they 
were  in  themselves  nothing,  the  possession  of  them  leaving 
the  man  still  nothing. 

August  3rd,  1870. 

.  .  .  A  subject  on  which  I  have  desired  to  say  some- 
thing to  you  of  what  has  been  occupying  me,  is  St.  Paul's 
faith  in  the  Resurrection.  I  read  the  clear  and  explicit 
record  of  what  that  faith  was  ;  also,  I  see  the  foundations  on 
which  it  rested.  Further,  I  see  how  entirely  his  personal 
experience  in  acting  on  that  faith — and  the  experience  of  the 
church  around  him,  with  whom  he  shared  that  faith — was 


282  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

fitted  to  confirm  him  in  the  conviction,  that  those  were  facts 
of  existence  and  elements  in  the  kingdom  of  God  which  he 
was  accepting  as  such.  What  do  I,  as  one  of  the  "  heirs  of 
-all  the  ages,"  and  especially  of  that  latest  birth — or  growth — 
of  time,  science,  know,  and  to  what  light  have  I  been  ad- 
vanced, which  would  justify  and  require  me  to  hold  this 
great  man — not  a  deceiver ;  he,  if  any  man,  was  true ;  but — 
•deceived  ?  accepting  as  facts  what  were  not  facts  ?  and  if 
not,  as  he  speaks,  "  a  false  witness  of  God  "  when  he  said 
^'  that  He  had  raised  Christ  from  the  dead ; "  yet  a  deceived 
witness — testifying  to  the  reality  of  what  was  not  a  reality, 
however  honest  he  was  in  so  testifying  ? 

I  see  that  Matthew  Arnold  holds  Paul  to  have  outgrown 
the  faith  of  a  literal  physical  resurrection  ;  not,  however,  as 
having  given  it  up,  or  having  ceased  to  believe  the  fact ;  for 
this  he  does  not  suppose  him  to  have  done  to  the  last ;  but 
in  the  way  of  rising  to  a  higher  and  more  spiritual  conception 
of  the  resurrection.  Would  Arnold  say  that  this  was  a  part 
of  St.  Paul's  "  thinking  as  a  child  "  which  he  had  omitted — 
rather,  been  unable — to  "  put  away  "  when  he  "  became  a 
man  ; "  and  a  part  of  that  "  thinking  as  a  child "  which 
''  science  "  would  have  enabled  him  to  put  away  ;  enabling 
him,  as  it  would  have  done,  to  go  on,  rich  in  the  spiritual 
results  of  all  his  belief  of  the  great  facts  of  Christianity, 
while  leaving  behind  him,  as  cast  away  delusion,  the  belief 
of  these  facts  themselves  ?  And  are  we  now  to  step  in,  and 
share  with  him  all  these  spiritual  results,  while  ourselves  on 
that  higher  level  of  science  to  which  it  was  not  granted  to 
him  to  attain,  and  therefore  rejecting  the  matter  of  fact 
beliefs  which  we  see  clinging  to  him  even  when  spiritually 
most  raised  above  them  ? 

I  know  not  science  deeply — that  is  to  say  as  science — 
know  it  not  as  those  know  it  who  can  pronounce  on  its 
accepted  results  ;  but  I  seem  to  myself  (accepting  these)  to 
b)e  dealing  with  it  philosophically,  asking  myself  in  the  light 


1870,       SCIENCE  AND  THE  RESURRECTION.       283 

of  reason  what  it  really  amounts  to,  and  what  it  has  given 
me  to  know  that  St.  Paul  did  not  know  :  and  I  cannot  find 
that  I  know  anything,  or  have  learned  anything,  that  would 
enable  me  to  say  to  "  Paul  the  aged  and  ready  to  be  offered," 
— "  Brother,  thou  hast  fought  a  good  fight;  thou  hast  brought 
a  high  and  pure  light  into  the  Church ;  thou  hast  taught  us 
to  think  truly  of  death  and  life — yea,  to  die  with  Christ  and 
live  with  Christ ;  but  thou  hast  erred  in  thinking  that  it  was 
possible  for  God  to  raise  the  dead.  What  has  seemed  to 
you  personal  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  He  had  done  so, 
science  now  teaches  us  to  know  was  really  subjective,  not 
objective.  We  accept  from  you  what  we  see  to  be  the 
higher  light  to  which  you  attained,  but  not  the  facts,  by  the 
acceptance  of  which  you  seemed  to  yourself  to  have  attained 
to  it." 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

AcHNASHiE,  RosNEATH,  iSth  August,  1870. 

I  have  great  happiness  in  thinking  of  my  grandson  as 
being  "  baptized  into  the  name  of  God,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost."  What  treasures  of  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge are  contained  in  that  name  !  "  Hid"  is  the  Apostle's 
word,  "hid  in  Christ;"  and,  considering  how  little  we  know 
in  comparison  with  what  we  have  yet  to  learn,  the  word  is 
appropriate.  Are  not  the  "  unsearchable  riches  which  we 
have  in  Christ,"  God's  "  precious  thoughts,"  which  are  "  more 
in  number  than  the  sand  " — our  spiritual  wealth,  and  our  pro- 
vision for  eternity — more  to  us  as  an  inheritance  on  the 
possession  of  the  title  deeds  to  which  we  are  found  con- 
gratulating ourselves,  rather  than  what  we  know,  and  on  the 
possession  of  which  we  have  entered  ? 

I  feel  that  "Heaven"  is  to  many  as  a  book  richly 
bound,  bright  with  jewels,  but  its  golden  clasps  not  yet 
opened  ;  and  this  is  the  case  even  of  those  who  venture  to 


284  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

rejoice  in  it  as  their  own  prospect.  It  ought  not  to  be  so, 
for  the  "  earliest  of  the  inheritance  "  is  a  real  foretaste  of  it. 
"  The  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost;"  and  these  are  elements  of  a  present 
experience  as  well  as  of  the  future  hope.  And  yet,  even 
when  they  are  experienced  in  the  light  of  the  name  into 
which  this  dear  babe  is  about  to  be  baptized,  that  name, 
the  faith  of  which  quickens  and  feeds  our  experience,  is  full 
of  mysterious  promise  to  us  as  "heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs 
with  Christ ;  "  making  our  feeling  of  ignorance  to  exceed  far 
our  feeling  of  knowledge. 

You  all  will  believe  how  much  we  are  with  you  to-day  in 
heart  and  in  spirit.  I  am  glad  dear  Mrs.  Crum  is  repre- 
sented in  the  name.  No  interest  in  this  baptism  will  be 
purer  or  higher  than  hers. 

We  are  very  quiet,  and  our  beautiful  weather  is  more  enjoy- 
able because  of  more  or  less  of  a  breeze.  God  gives  us  all 
things  richly  to  enjoy,  while  He  Himself  is  His  own  best 
gift,  and  to  be  enjoyed  not  in  a  way  of  duty,  but  in  the 
simple  natural  realizing  aright  of  what  we  possess  in 
Him.     .     .     . 

The  love  of  God.  No  man  who  holds  by  this  sheet-anchor 
can  really  go  adrift;  though  length  of  cable,  an  open 
anchorage,  and  the  violence  of  the  wind  now  from  one  point 
of  the  compass,  now  from  another,  may  cause  him  to  be 
sorely  tossed.  He  who  knows  that  God  is  love  has  the 
deepest,  most  essential  knowledge  of  God,  whatever  of  true 
and  important  may  remain  hid  from  him,  trying  his  faith  in 
that  which  he  knows. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

ACHNASHIE  [1870]. 

My  dearest  James, — Your  question  as  to  Newman's 
Grammar  of  Assent  has  often  recurred  to  me,  in  thinking  of 


i87o.  "  GRAMMAR  OF  ASSENT."  285 

that  '•'  inner  life  "  of  my  beloved  sons,  in  which  my  interest  is 
so  deep,  while  ray  knowledge  of  its  course  is  so  limited  and 
my  power  to  influence  that  course  so  very  small. 

But  I  have  delayed  any  attempt  to  answer  your  question 
until  I  should  have  read  the  book  itself,  which  I  as  yet 
know  only  through  reviews,  one  in  the  Spectator,  another 
by  Mr.  Maurice  in  the  Contemporary. 

I  think,  however,  I  should  not  longer  delay  saying  some- 
thing on  the  subject  of  "  assent."  Generally,  it  is  certain 
that  all  life  of  man  on  earth  involves  countless  acts  of  assent 
given  on  grounds  coming  short  of  a  warrant  for  certainty  in 
the  greatest  variety  of  measures.  Also,  these  assents  are 
necessitated  by  the  conditions  of  our  existence,  which  are 
such  as  would  make  the  result  of  practical  suspense  in  wait- 
ing for  certainty  often  most  fatal.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  we  are  constantly  erring  in  the  way  of 
being  contented  in  comparative  darkness  while  light  would 
have  rewarded  the  due  use  of  the  means  of  knowledge 
granted  to  us ;  and  this  to  our  great  loss. 

A  true  grammar  of  assent  must  recognize  these  two 
aspects  of  our  position,  and,  shedding  light  on  our  limits, 
teach  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  all  that  lies  within  them;  while 
reconciling  us  to  their  existence,  and  saving  us  from  the 
attempt  to  get  beyond  them.  I  hope  to  read  Dr.  Newman's 
Grammar  prepared  to  weigh  fairly  its  claims  to  be  such  a 
boon  to  any  extent,  more  or  less,  although  my  expectations 
from  him  cannot  but  be  affected  by  the  remembrance  that  in 
the  highest  region  of  "  assent "  he  has  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  "  if  it  was  the  purpose  of  God  to  give  us  certain  know- 
ledge of  Himself,  such  a  purpose  implied  the  ordinance  of  an 
infallible  church." 

Am  I  contentedly  uncertain  in  that  of  which  God  gives  me 
the  means  of  certain  knowledge?  Is  this  the  case  in  a  matter 
as  to  which  such  knowledge  is  of  practical  importance? 
What  evil  does  such  uncertainty  involve  ?    My  answer  to  such 


286  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

questions  as  to  the  gospel  of  our  salvation  lay  at  the  root  of 
my  anxiety  and  my  earnest  preaching  on  the  subject  of 
"  Assurance."  Whatever  enlargement  of  view  I  may  be  now- 
conscious  of  in  comparing  the  present  and  the  past,  as  it  has 
been  much  the  habit  of  my  mind  to  do,  and  as  to  which  my 
present  circumstances  (back  in  the  evening  of  life  to  the 
scene  of  my  early  labours)  are  a  special  call,  I  have  learned 
nothing  that  has  lessened  to  me  the  importance  of  seeing  the 
relation  between  the  intelligent  apprehension  and  undoubted 
faith  of  the  gospel,  and  an  assured  personal  confidence 
towards  God. 

News  are  not  in  my  province,  and  I  am  not  attempting 
to  give  any. 

Looking  down  on  the  loch  through  the  openings  among 
the  trees,  when  I  raise  my  head  from  my  paper,  brings  a  most 
refreshing  sense  of  beauty.  Would  you  could  both  share  it 
with  me  ! 

nth  August,  1870. 

We  are  ready  to  receive  my  sister  when  it  suits  her  to 
come,  and  I  long  to  share  the  enjoyment  of  Achnashie  with 
her,  who  has  so  keen  a  sense  of  the  beauties  of  nature,  and 
in  our  very  childhood  shared  the  enjoyment  of  these  with 
me,  at  dear  Kilninver,  more  than  sixty  years  ago.  The 
features  of  the  scene  here  are  all  different,  yet  combining  the 
same  element  of  near  home  quiet  beauty,  with  distant  moun- 
tains' bold  grandeur  I  may  say.  To  run  a  parallel  I  would 
indeed  to  some  extent  need  to  copy  Fluellen's  manner  of 
comparison ;  this  villa-bordered  Gareloch,  with  its  steamers 
and  its  multitude  of  rattling  carriages,  being  rather  a  contrast 
to  Loch  Feochan.  Also  in  its  inland  lake  aspect  it  is  a  con- 
trast to  that  outflow  to  and  inflow  from  the  Atlantic  which  I 
have  so  often  enjoyed,  in  sunshine  and  in  storm,  the  golden 
light  of  the  bright  west  making  the  ten  miles  between  us  and 
Mull  "  one  sea  of  gold,  like  unto  glass."     Or,  in  stormy 


1870.  KILNINVER  AND  ACHNASHIE.  287 

weather,  the  waves  rolling  in  from  the  Atlantic,  with  all  the 
space  between  us  and  America  to  swell  through,  breaking  ork 
the  points  of  Kerrera.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Mull  moun 
tains  in  front  of  us,  and  those  towards  the  north-east  to  the 
right,  while  a  noble  background,  were  still  less  bold  and 
Alpine  in  their  expression  than  the  range  due  north  of  us 
here,  extending  from  Lochgoil  to  beyond  Arrochar,  where 
Ben  Im  and  the  Cobbler  terminate  our  sight  of  this  west 
end  of  the  Grampians. 

I  find  this  place  was  heavily  wooded  till  lately,  nothing  of 
this  fine  north  view  being  visible  from  the  house.  The 
change  is  a  great  improvement,  and  trees  enough  remain  to 
make  a  beautiful  foreground  in  that  and  every  direction,  I 
particularly  enjoy  the  tall  ashes  with  dropping  branchesr 
which  partially  hide  and  beautifully  reveal  the  loch. 


14th  September,  1870. 

Miss  Fletcher  finished  the  reading  of  the  Grammar  of 
Assent  to  me  yesterday.  There  is  a  great  deal  that  is 
beautiful  in  it,  a  clothing  of  thought  with  a  rich  garb  of 
illustration  ;  but  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  learned  much 
from  it. 

The  best  part  of  it  is  the  closing  argument  for  faith  in 
Romanism  ;  which,  however,  as  Romanism  is  distinguishable 
from  Christianity,  it  is  not.  But,  received  as  the  commend- 
ing of  the  truth.,  seen  in  its  simplicity  and  disengaged  from 
the  accretions  of  church  traditions  and  erring  developments, 
it  has  a  true  value. 

The  danger  connected  with  the  book  springs  out  of  our 
tendency  to  yield  ourselves  to  the  guidance  of  one  who 
seems  so  much  at  home  in  the  country  in  which  he  offers  to 
be  our  guide  ;  and  also,  the  special  difficulty  of  obeying  the 
counsel  "  prove  all  things "  when  that  which  we  have  to 
prove  is  the  argument  which  has  seemed  conclusive  to  such 


288  MEMORIALS.     .  chap.  xiv. 

a  mind.  TJiat  is  likely  to  be  at  least  very  specious  which 
has  satisfied  such  a  thinker.  As  to  his  logic,  important 
links  are,  to  my  apprehension,  wanting;  one,  especially,  in 
the  transition  from  inference  to  assent,  inference  being  ad- 
mitted to  be  conditional,  while  an  absoluteness  is  claimed  for 
assent. 

Sometimes  he  seems  to  mean  only  that  in  assenting  there 
is  no  going  back  on  the  inference  or  inferences  by  which  the 
conclusion  which  takes  the  form  of  "assent"  has  been 
reached  ;  which  is  true  :  but  though  not  explicitly,  yet  im- 
plicitly these  inferences  must  be  there.  To  say  otherwise 
seems  to  be  to  hold  that  water  may  rise  higher  than  its  foun- 
tain. Thinking  of  him  as  the  champion  of  Rome,  one 
always  expects  a  use  to  be  made  of  what  one  is  reading 
which  never  is  made,  unless  the  bare  statement  of  Roman 
Catholic  dogmata  in  the  close  is  supposed  to  find  the  mind  of 
his  reader  prepared  to  see  the  light  in  them  which  he  assumes 
to  be  in  them. 


To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

ACHNASHIE,  September  i8th,  1870. 

.  .  .  May  our  gracious  God,  who  has  in  love  given 
you  all  to  each  other,  give  you  both  who  already  know  the 
Giver  the  blessedness  of  bringing  up  to  know  Him  the  two 
who  as  yet  know  Him  not !  How  strange,  how  lifting  up 
and  leading  forward  into  the  divine  future,  is  the  thought  of 
the  development  of  these  dear  babes  up  to  and  beyond  our 
highest  present  consciousness  :  and,  after  they  have,  so  to 
speak,  made  up  with  us,  our  journeying  on  together  through 
the  eternity  where  lies  our  endless  way — endless,  yet  at  each 
step  the  rest  of  an  end — the  fruition  of  hope,  while  the 
quickening  of  further  hope  ! 


1870  A  BIRTHDAY  LETTER.  289 

2o  his  Third  Sox. 

AcHXASHlE,  4th  October,  1870. 

Birthdays  and  birthday  good  wishes  have  in  family  life 
somewhat  of  the  place  which  Christmas  and  Easter  have  in 
the  church  life  of  thos"e  who  are  wont  to  gather  the  interest 
of  religion  into  foci.  But  such  concentration  is  good  only 
when  it  is  at  the  same  time  diffusion ;  as  by  a  double  and 
contradictory  process,  spreading  the  light  of  love  by  the 
very  act  of  gathering  it  to  a  focus. 

Such  is  the  difference  between  the  spiritual  and  the 
physical.  "  There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth." 
The  unsearchable  riches  which  we  have  in  Christ  are  not  a 
wealth  that  is  such  relatively  according  to  -a  scale  of  distri- 
bution. On  the  contrary,  my  brother's  wealth  of  goodness 
and  love  is  a  real  addition  to  mine,  and  mine  to  his. 
Twelve  men  dwelling  together  in  love,  as  compared  with  one, 
have  their  love  multiplied  in  being  shared.  But  let  me 
not  allow  my  fancy  by  illustration  to  envelop  in  a  mist  a  very 
simple  truth ;  the  blessed  truth  that  there  is  no  place  for 
rivalry  or  competition  in  the  pursuit  of  the  true  riches. 

My  birthday  wishes,  my  everyday  wishes  for  you,  my 
James,  as  for  you  all,  are  determined,  you  well  know,  by 
such  thoughts  as  these  ;  which  abound  in  me  ever  more  and 
more  as  I  live  more  and  more  in  the  light  of  Christ,  the 
Saviour  who  is  Himself  our  salvation,  seeing  that  the  manner 
of  His  saving  is  by  becoming  Himself  our  life. 

I  trust  this  is  not  to  you  "  mysticism  "  rather  than  simple 
practical  goodness,  which  it  really  is, — goodness  as  the 
Father  of  our  spirits  commends  it  to  us,  when  He  says  of 
the  Son  as  born  into  our  nature  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased.  Hear  ye  Him."  Hear  Him  that 
ye  may  learn  to  be  to  me  beloved  sons  in  whom  I  shall  be 
well  pleased. 

VOL.  II.  T 


290  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 

Desiring  for  you  that  you  may  ever  hear  in  the  spirit  the 
divine  voice,  which  is  the  drawing  of  the  Father  drawing  us 
to  the  Son,  and  may  obey  it,  and  obeying  know  by  experi- 
ence what  manner  of  gift  Divine  Sonship  is,  I  often  think  of 
the  distracting  power  of  the  other  voices  which  ask  attention. 
It  is  certain  that  any  voice  to  which  we  can  only  Hsten  by 
ceasing  to  hear  God's  voice,  is  the  voice  of  the  tempter; 
therefore  what  we  are  to  shut  out.  But  all  trtie  voices  are 
only  better  heard  and  better  understood  when  we  are 
reverently  listening  to  the  voice  of  God. 


To  Miss  Duncan. 

AcHNASHiE,  RosNEATH,  iQtli  October,  1870. 

Your  letter  telling  of  your  friend  Mr.  Douglas's  death  is  felt 
by  us  all  in  sympathy  with  you  under  what  is  so  real  a 
sorrow.  Less  cherished  memories  of  early  friendships  than 
this  is  to  you  I  now  feel  having  a  strong  power  over  me ; 
the  bright  tints  which  invest  the  retrospect  of  our  young  days 
becoming  brighter  and  brighter  as  they  recede  into  greater 
distance.  And  if  this  is  so  as  to  places  and  scenes  and  their 
natural  features  of  beauty,  how  much  more  is  it  so  with  our 
feelings  towards  those  who  were  the  life  of  our  life  in  that 
fondly  remembered  past.  Dear,  dear  friend,  you  have  my 
perfect  sympathy. 

You  may  have  heard  me  say  that  one  of  the  forms  in 
which  I  expressed  to  myself  the  change  that  came  to  me 
with  the  first  assured  faith  in  Christ  and  hope  of  Eternal 
Life  was,  that  whereas  previously  I  had  been  travelling /ww 
a  bright  East,  leaving  the  sweetest  light  behind  me,  I  was 
henceforth  to  feel  travelling  towaj-ds  a  higher  dawn  in  the 
future,  to  which  belonged  the  light  "  shining  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day." 

It  is  indeed  a  happy  change  when  the  light  of  hope  over- 


1870.  THE  LIGHT  OF  HOPE.  ag  i 

powers  that  of  memory ;  our  treasure  having  come  to  be  in 
the  invisible,  not  in  the  visible ;  and  therefore  what  gives  its 
interest  to  the  future  and  to  our  Eternal  Home,  and  even 
changes  the  past  from  its  sad  aspect,  as  what  has  come  to  an 
end,  to  its  truer  character  as  the  beginning  of  what  is  never 
to  end. 

I  do  not,  however,  find  the  realization  of  this  change  an 
emptying  of  the  past  of  all  its  tender  interest ;  only  it  takes 
away  the  element  of  repining  that  it  should  be  "  past," — a 
feeling  too  near  akin  to  rebellion  against  the  will  which 
"  appoints  the  bounds  of  our  habitation,"  making  them  such 
as  to  move  us  to  seek  Him  who  is  "  our  dwelling  place  in  all 
generations." 

The  light  in  which  one  says  "  I  would  not  live  always  " 
surely  is  light  in  which  one  will  also  say  "  I  would  not  be 
young  always,"  with  the  youth  of  time  at  least.  But  there  is 
an  immortal  youth. 

That  the  past  has  passed,  as  that  the  present  is  passing, 
we  alike  realize  peacefully,  icnrepiningly,  in  the  consciousness 
that  we  have  "received  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved." 
God  has  reconciled  us  to  all  His  ordering  of  things  in 
reconciling  us  to  Himself.  Nevertheless  sorrow  has  not 
ceased  to  be  sorrow  even  when  no  longer  the  "  sorrow 
of  those  who  have  no  hope ; "  and  though  we  look  beyond 
partings  to  the  meeting,  partings  are  trials  still,  and  "  for  the 
present  not  joyous  but  grievous,"  because  of  that  wrench 
which  they  give  where  there  is  love  enough  to  make  the 
severing  the  touching  of  life. 


To  the  Rev.  P.  Stevenson. 

AcHNASHiE,  RosNEATH,  1st  December,  1S70. 

.     .     .     If  you  come  to  Glasgow  any  time  after  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year,  we  expect  to  be  able  to  receive  you  here, 


292 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 


and  will  be  most  happy  if  you  can  include  coming  to  us  in 
your  arrangements. 

I  hope  you  will  have  encouragement  in  your  work  to  tell 
me  of.  You  will  be  much  interested  in  looking  with  me  at 
the  scene  of  my  early  labours  from  forty-five  to  forty  years 
ago.  I  have  had  many  thoughts  in  the  freshened  retrospect 
since  I  came  here  ;  the  issue  of  peace  being  "  My  work  is^vith 
the  Lord,  and  my  labour  is  with  my  God."  Begin  with  this, 
that  you  may  end  with  this. 

Mrs.  Campbell  and  I  are  alone  at  present  ;  our  absent 
family  "  in  all  places  whither  they  are  scattered  "  contribut- 
ing, nevertheless,  valued  elements  to  our  daily  life.  [After 
speaking  of  each  member  of  his  family  :]  This  is  our  near 
circle,  in  which  our  thoughts  and  feelings  move  round  ;  I 
trust  not  without  His  approving  observation  to  whom  per- 
tains the  filling  with  Himself  that  innet-  circle  in  which  our 
inner  life  is  lived  :  nor  causing  forgetfulness  of  that  outer 
circle  of  human  interests  which  also  is  of  the  riches  with 
which  He  has  endowed  life. 

Yes !  human  interests  are  divine  gifts  ;  and  are — even 
when  most  painful,  as  our  present  sense  of  brotherhood  with 
the  suffering  nations  under  the  judgment  of  war — still  among 
the  "  all  things  which  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God." 

To  his  Eldest  Sox. 

AcHNASHiE,  25th  November,  1870. 

...  I  have  just  received  from  Principal  Shairp  his  little 
volume,  "  Culture  and  Religion,"  with  a  letter  which  will 
interest  you.  He  feels  that  combined  tenderness  for  and 
fear  from  much  of  the  present  questioning  which  I  myself 
feel  so  much ;  and  his  attempt  to  help  has  my  entire 
sympathy. 

I  have  just  had  read  to  me  the  two  first  papers  in  Max 


1870.  MR.   VOYSEY'S  CASE.  293 

Miiller's  Chips,  &c.,  and  think  to  have  some  hght  through 
him  that  may  help  the  adjustment  which  I  seek  to  attain  of 
what  just  claims  on  respect  may  be  present  in  the  religions 
of  the  world  in  combination  with  the  errors  by  which  they 
[were]  connected  with  a  reign  of  darkness. 

2nd  December. 

.  .  You  will  feel  that  the  interest  of  Voysey's  case  is 
to  me  deep  while  painful ;  but  I  cannot  write  about  it  at  the 
length  due  to  its  importance,  or  its  probable  working,  as 
thrown  into  the  caldron,  and  its  boiling  vortex  of  question- 
ings— now, would  say,  receiving  its  ingredients  under 

the  same  supervision  with  that  under  which  the  witches  in 
Macbeth  filled  theirs ;  which  in  one  view  is  true,  and  with 
doubtless  much  evil  result.  But  let  us  rise  to  the  realization 
of  the  Higher  Supervision,  and  the  result  as  His  who  brings 
good  out  of  evil,  that  we  be  not  too  much  cast  down  or 
discouraged.  My  prayer  and  hope  is,  that  so  much  proving 
of  what  men  had  taken  for  granted  will  issue  in  a  real  and 
not  mere  traditional  holding  of  that  which  is  right.  You 
know  my  very  special  value  for  the  Fourth  Gospel,  and  how 
much  to  me  it  shines  by  its  own  light ;  and  will  know  how 
painfully  I  was  sure  to  feel  a  treatment  of  portions  (at  least) 
of  it,  which  could  only  be  exxusable  (if  then)  if  it  had  been 
proved  to  be  unauthentic,  and  not  merely  open  to  doubts  as 
to  its  authorship.  I  was  struck  with  the  likeness  of  the 
line  of  argument  to  that  of  Renan  in  reference  to  St.  Paul, 
exposed  by  Arnold,  viz.,  assuming  the  Calvinism  of  the 
teaching  ascribed  to  our  Lord,  and  then  inferring  that  it 
could  not  be  His. 

17th  December. 

[With    reference    to   the   intended    publication   of    Mr. 
Erskine's  posthumous  book.  The  Spiritual  Oi'derJ] 

.     .     .     As  to  his  viemory,  what  embodies  his  constant 


294 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xiv. 


thinking  for  many  years,  and  was  substantially  present  in 
the  depths  of  his  thought  as  an  element  of  his  peace  and 
rest  in  God  at  least  for  fifty  years  (if  not  longer); — what  had 
latterly  been  his  favourite  topic  with  all  to  whom  he  spoke 
of  divine  things  freely,  and,  from  being  in  him  as  a  hope 
beyond  the  Gospel  revelation — the  development  of  that 
revelation — had  come  to  be  to  him  the  Gospel  itself,  and 
what  to  deny  Avas  to  him  to  nullify  the  Gospel  itself; — this 
to  publish,  as  elaborated  by  himself  in  the  last  ten  years  of 
his  life,  ca?mot  be  to  do  injustice  to  his  7nemory, — could  not, 
unless  that  elaboration  were  felt  to  have  in  it  a  weakness 
and  traces  of  mental  decay,  offering  a  contrast  to  his  former 
WTitings,  and  so  to  his  proper  self  in  his  manhood.  But 
there  is  no  such  contrast.  Some  portions  of  this  book  are 
at  least  equal  to  anything  he  ever  wrote ;  and  if  some  have 
not  all  his  characteristic  clearness,  this  seems  owing  very 
much  to  the  difficulty  of  the  ground  on  which  he  has 
ventured. 

.  .  .  I  have  been  realizing  so  much  the  free  thinking 
on  this  great  question  which  abounds,  and  its  unhealthiiiess 
in  the  forms  it  is  generally  taking,  that  I  am  more  and  more 
hopeful  that  this  earnest  and  reverent  and  spiritual  treatment 
of  it  will  be  profitable  to  many,  and  help  them  in  the  form 
in  which  they  are  most  likely  to  accept  help. 

But  to  welcome  such  a  book  in  connection  with  the  bold 
thinking  on  its  subject  that  prevails  is  one  thing,  and  to  have 
entire  unqualified  confidence  in  its  teaching  is  another.  .  .  . 
There  is  no  misconception  that  I  would  more  regret  than 
that  of  concluding  from  my  not  seeing  altogether  eye  to  eye 
with  Mr.  Erskine,  that  I  am  rejecting  the  great  essence  of 
his  book, — the  conclusion  as  to  the  future  of  man  at  which 
he  arrives.  I  am  very  far  from  this.  I  still  feel  difficulties 
which  did  not  weigh  with  him.  I  have  never  felt  yet  in  a 
fulness  of  light  which  would  enable  me  to  teach  on  the 
subject;  as  I  have  felt  on  the  Atonement — its  extent — its 


1870.  FINAL  RESTITUTION.  295 

nature — Revelation — the  Lord's  Supper.  But  I  see  enough 
to  make  me  thankful  that  it  is  a  question  that  so  many  good 
men  are  feeling  to  be  an  open  one ;  while,  of  the  two  direc- 
tions of  thought  (in  reaction  against  the  popular  creed  here), 
in  one  or  other  of  which  men  are  going,  I  feel  that  both  as 
a  Scriptural  question,  and  as  one  of  Christian  philosophy, 
the  conception  oi  final  restitution  commends  itself  incom- 
parably more  to  me  than  that  of  annihilation ;  which  I 
understand  many  Nonconformists,  as  well  as  some  in  the 
church,  are  accepting. 

To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

ACHNASHIE,  19th  December,  1870. 

It  was  this  time  eight  years  ago  that  I  last  passed  this 
season  in  Rosneath.  In  what  different  circumstances ! 
How  solemn  the  thought  of  "  sparing  mercy "  !  Such  it 
feels ;  and  in  thinking  of  the  position  of  all  and  each  of  my 
family  now  as  compared  with  what  it  was  then,  I  feel  it 
sparing  mercy.  And  it  would  be  selfish  to  feel  otherwise, 
even  had  I  attained  much  more  than  I  have  to  the  fellowship 
of  the  Apostle's  feeling,  that  "to  depart  and  be  with  Christ 
is  far  better."  What  more  time,  and  his  bearing  a  little 
longer  of  the  cross,  had  done  for  his  crown  when  he  had 
come  to  say,  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time 
of  my  departure  is  at  hand,"  we  know  not.  He  knew,  while 
using  the  "armour  of  righteousness"  through  his  many  years 
of  Christian  conflict,  that  a  crown  of  righteousness  awaited 
him,  foi:  he  could  say  of  his  Lord,  "  Whose  I  am  and  whom 
I  serve."  But  inasmuch  as  he  said,  "I  judge  not  mine 
own  self,  but  He  that  judgeth  me  is  the  Lord,"  he  would 
not  at  any  time  have  pronounced  a  judgment  on  the  measure 
of  his  own  "  meetness  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light."  So,  as  a  personal  question,  one  cannot  say  of  one's 
own  knowledge  that  death  is  better  sooner  or  is  better  later. 


296  MEMORIALS.  CHAP.  xiv. 

But  where  so  many  threads  of  this  mystic  web  of  life  are 
interwoven,  it  were  wrong  to  fix  the  eye  of  faith  and  its 
interest  just  on  the  thread  which  is  one's  individual  self. 
While  the  words,  "Thou  art  thy  Saviour's  darling;  seek  no 
more,"  may  be  rightly  heard,  and  healthfully  self-applied,  in 
that  inmost  circle — or  centre  rather — of  our  being,  in  which 
each  one  is  alone  with  God ;  still  we  have  not  fellowship 
with  the  Head  if  we  lose  the  sense  of  membership,  or  forget 
that  Christ's  eye  is  on  the  web  and  the  pattern  being  woven, 
and  with  an  interest  in  which  to  share  is  an  important  and  a 
blessed  element  in  our  participation  in  the  mind  of  Christ. 
Accept  my  best  wishes  of  the  season, — for  an  abundant 
experience  of  our  unsearchable  riches  in  Christ,  and  proving 
of  the  divine  meaning  of  the  words,  "  Unto  you  is  bom  a 
Saviour." 


297 


CHAPTER    XV. 

1871 — 1872. 

Presentation  and  Address  to  Dr.  Campbell — He  begins  to  write 
Reminiscences  and  Reflections — Family  gathering  at  Achnashie — 
Letters,  January,  1871,  to  February,  1872 — His  Last  Days — The 
End— Funeral  Sermons — Letters  from  Professor  Lushington  and 
Principal  Shairp. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  187 1,  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the 
day  on  which  he  had  stood  at  the  bar  of  the  Synod  of 
Glasgow  and  Ayr,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  house  of 
Professor  Edward  Caird,  Glasgow  University,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  presenting  an  address  and  testimonial  to  Dr. 
Campbell. 

The  address  was  signed  by  a  committee,  which  included 
representatives  of  the  principal  churches  of  Scotland,  as 
well  as  several  well-known  citizens  of  Glasgow.  The 
Established  Church  was  represented  by  Dr.  Burns  of  the 
Cathedral,  Dr.  Caird  of  the  University,  Dr.  Norman 
Macleod  of  the  Barony,  Dr.  Wylie  of  Carluke,  Mr.  Paisley 
of  St.  Ninians,  and  Mr.  Story  of  Rosneath ;  the  Episcopal 
Church  by  Mr.  Oldham  of  St.  Mary's,  Glasgow;  the  Free 
Church  by  Dr.  W.  C.  Smith ;  and  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  by  Dr.  John  Ker.  Professors  Edward  Caird  and 
J.  Veitch  represented  the  University  of  Glasgow ;  and  the 
other  members  of  the  committee  were — Mr.  James  Alexander 


298  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

Campbell,  Mr.  Alexander  Crum,  Mr.  Alexander  B.  M'Grigor, 
and  Mr.  Archibald  Robertson. 

Dr.  Macleod  was  appointed  by  the  committee  to  present 
to  Dr.  Campbell  a  silver  gilt  vase,  on  the  model  of  the 
Warwick  vase,  which  bore  the  inscription  :  "  Presented  to 
the  Rev.  John  M'Leod  Campbell,  D.D.,  by  a  number  of 
friends,  in  token  of  their  afifectionate  respect  for  his 
character,  and  their  high  estimate  of  his  labours  as  a 
theologian." 

Before  making  the  presentation  and  reading  the  address 
of  the  committee,  Dr.  Macleod  said  that  he  felt  it  a  great 
honour  and  pleasure  to  be  chosen  to  present  this  token  of 
respect  and  affection  to  his  oldest  and  dearest  friend  now 
on  earth.  He  did  it  the  more  gladly  that,  as  one  who  had 
been  a  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  he  could  express  the  regret  of  himself  and  many 
others  that  Dr.  Campbell  was  no  longer  a  minister  of  that 
Church.  He  felt  sure  that  such  an  event  as  his  deposi- 
tion could  not  occur  now.  He  then  read  the  following 
address  : — 

"  To  John  M'Leod  Campbell,  D.D. 

"  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, — In  the  name  of  a  number  of 
clergymen  and  laymen,  we  take  the  opportunity  of  your 
leaving  Glasgow  to  request  your  acceptance  of  the  accom- 
panying testimonial,  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  known 
to  you  the  respect  and  affection  which  we  feel  towards  you 
personally,  as  well  as  our  deep  sense  of  the  services  you 
have  rendered  to  the  Christian  Church. 

"  In  thus  addressing  you  we  are  assured  that  we  only  give 
expression  to  feelings  widely  prevalent ;  for,  although  your 
name  has  been  much  associated  with  religious  controversy, 
we  believe  that  all  would  now  recognize  you  as  one  who,  in 
his  fearless  adherence  to  that  which  he  held  to  be  the  truth 
of  God,  has  never  been  tempted  to  forget  the  meekness 


1871-72.  ADDRESS  TO  DR.  CAMPBELL.  299 

and  gentleness  of  Christ.  And,  without  entering  upon  any 
disputed  questions,  we  desire  for  ourselves  to  express  the 
conviction  that  your  labours  and  example  have  been  the 
means  of  deepening  religious  thought  and  life  in  our  country; 
that  your  influence  has  been  a  source  of  strength  and  light 
to  the  Churches,  and  that  in  your  writings,  as  in  your  words, 
you  have  ever  united  independence  of  mind  with  humility 
and  reverence  for  divine  truth,  and  deep  spiritual  insight 
with  the  purity  and  tenderness  of  Christian  love. 

"  And  our  earnest  prayer  is,  that  He  who  has  sustained 
you  hitherto  and  enabled  you  to  keep  your  heart  in  all 
meekness  and  sweetness  of  wisdom,  amidst  the  sorest  trials 
of  patience,  may  be  with  you  still,  and  that  this  imperfect 
but  sincere  expression  of  our  esteem  may  cheer  you 
with  the  assurance  that  your  labours  have  not  been  in 
vain." 

Dr.  Campbell  replied  that  he  felt  deeply  this  expression 
of  personal  feeling  to  himself  He  desired  to  thank  the 
committee  and  the  subscribers  for  their  kindness,  and  the 
more  that  they  had  expressed  that  kindness  through  one 
who  was  so  old  and  valued  a  friend ;  but  his  deepest  thank- 
fulness was  for  the  testimony  borne  to  his  labours,  that  they 
had  not  been  in  vain.  He  felt,  indeed,  some  measure  of 
confidence  that  they  had  not ;  and  he  welcomed  this  acknow- 
ledgment all  the  more  because  he  believed  it  to  be  rendered 
for  Christ's  sake — for  "  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord."  He  did  not  feel  that  he  could  well  speak 
in  reference  to  his  circumstances,  of  which  Dr.  Macleod  had 
spoken.  He  would  only  say  that  he  felt  grateful  that  the 
being  without  and  not  within  the  Church  of  Scotland  had 
never  lessened  his  deep  feeling  towards  the  Church,  his 
interest  in  her  ministry,  and  his  thankfulness  for  the  good 
effected  by  her  ministrations.  Perhaps  the  change  in  his 
position  had  been  favourable  to  his  thinking  and  writing  as 
he  might  not  have  done  had  he  remained  to  the  close  a  hard- 


300  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

working  parish  priest.     But  these  things  were  in  the  hands 
of  God. 


How  deeply  Dr.  Campbell  was  affected  by  this  occurrence 
appears  from  his  letters  written  immediately  after  it.  He 
refers  to  letters  which  he  received  "in  supplement  of  the 
presentation — echoes  of  its  voice,  both  in  its  comforting  and 
humbling  power." 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Achnashie  he  began  to  write 
those  Reminiscefices  and  Re/lections  which  were  published 
in  their  unfinished  state  about  a  year  after  his  death. 
At  first  he  thought  of  writing  something  which  he  might 
send  to  the  members  of  the  Testimonial  Committee,  both  as 
an  acknowledgment  of  their  kindness,  and  as  a  record  of 
what  he  had  taught  when  minister  of  Row.  But  the  work 
grew  in  his  hands  until  it  became  a  book. 

His  writing  was  very  pleasantly  interrupted  in  the  autumn 
by  a  family  gathering  at  Achnashie,  which  included  his 
beloved  sister,  as  well  as  all  his  children  except  his  third 
son,  who  had  gone  to  Bombay  two  years  before.  His 
second  son  had  come  home  on  three  months'  leave;  his 
youngest  daughter  was  there  with  her  husband;  and  his 
youngest  son  was  still  at  home,  preparing  to  start  for  India 
in  October. 

After  this  gathering  had  dispersed,  and  he  and  Mrs. 
Campbell  were  left  alone,  he  returned  to  his  work,  and 
wrote  the  chapters  on  Old  Age,  and  on  the  bright  dawn  of 
his  life  at  Row.  His  letters — now  written  almost  entirely 
to  members  of  his  own  family — mark  the  calm  and  happy 
course  of  his  life  during  these  months  ;  and  their  record 
is  continued  until  the  very  eve  of  the  attack  which  termin- 
ated fatally  after  only  six  days'  illness. 


1871-72.  FAITH  AND  LOVE.  301 

To  Miss  Duncan. 

AcHNASHiE,  RosNEATH,  I  ith  January,  1871. 

''  By  self-knowledge  reaching  unto  God  "  are  Gambold's 
words.  But  here,  as  in  "  faith"  and  "  love,"  there  is  ever  an 
acting  and  re-acting.  Self-knowledge  helps  us  to  understand 
what  our  God  says  to  us,  for  He  speaks  to  us  according  to 
the  truth  of  what  we  are  and  what  we  need  ;  while  it  is  when 
taking  ourselves  to  the  light  of  the  mind  of  God  concerning 
us,  of  what  His  love  wills  for  us,  that  we  attain  to  true  self- 
knowledge  ;  just  as  faith  quickens  love,  and  love,  as  it 
increases,  is  an  increasing  capacity  of  faith. 

May  we  move  round  in  this  circle,  which  is  no  "  vicious 
circle,"  like  that  imputed  by  Protestants  to  Romanists  when 
they  receive  the  Bible  on  the  authority  of  the  church,  and 
the  church  on  the  authority  of  the  Bible.  I  say,  no  vicious 
deceptive  circle  of  "  taking  for  granted,"  but  a  circle  all  light, 
all  self-evidencing;  for  faith  is  a  movement  of  our  being 
which  is  in  light,  and  love  is  also.  Cherishing  the  faith 
which  welcomes  love  we  are  obeying  light.  Dwelling  in  the 
love  which  makes  us  more  able  to  believe  we  are  dwelling  in 
light. 

You  will  read  this,  not  as  "  mental  analysis  "  or  as  "  meta- 
physics," but  only  as  fixing  your  attention  on  what  you 
know  well ;  namely,  that  the  more  you  cherish  faith  the  more 
you  love,  and  the  more  you  cherish  love  the  more  you  are 
able  to  believe.  "  Beholding  as  in  a  glass  His  glory  we  are 
changed  into  the  same  image."  Being  changed  into  the 
same  image  our  vision  of  the  glory  becomes  more  and 
more  clear.  This  is  one  aspect  of  the  truth  that  "  He  that 
believeth  hath  the  witness  in  himself;"  and  its  interest  and 
value  to  me  is  daily  deepening,  as  I  see  men  with  so  little 
profit  occupied  with  outside  questions  and  reasons  for  believ- 
ing, instead  of  being  looking  steadfastly  at  that  which  is  to 


302 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 


be  believed,  and  so  being  under  the  power  of  the  light  which 
shines  from  itself. 

To  Mr.  George  Macallum. 

[AcHNASHiE,  1871.] 
.  .  I  am  sure  your  good  father  feels  (as  my  friend 
Mr.  Maurice  says)  "  thankful  that  you  have  a  better  Father 
than  he  has  been  or  can  be."  And  it  is  a  part  of  this  com- 
fort in  rising  from  himself  to  God, — tracing  his  own  desires 
for  you  as  a  Christian  parent  up  to  that  fountain  of  these 
desires  in  the  heart  of  God, — that  when  you  go  out  from 
time  to  time  from  under  the  paternal  roof  you  are  not  going 
from  under  the  overshadowing  love  of  the  Father  of  your 
spirit,  under  which  is  the  home  of  your  spirit.  May  you  feel 
this  yourself,  and  learn  to  dwell  everywhere  in  your  Heavenly 
Father's  presence  as  in  your  true  eternal  home  !  There  is 
enough  to  quicken  and  to  keep  alive  this  divine  home  feeling 
in  you  in  the  love  of  God  to  you  revealed  in  Christ,  if  by 
faith  you  keep  in  the  light  of  that  love.  Of  this  be  assured: 
it  never  is  the  case  that  we  need  wish  that  God's  Fatherly 
love  should  be  greater  than  it  is.  What  we  need  is  to 
become  more  and  more  what  that  love  desires  to  make  us ; 
so  that,  from  being  a  love  grieving  over  us,  it  may  come  to 
be  a  love  rejoicing  over  us. 

You  will  find  the  attitude  of  listening  to  what  God  is  say- 
ing to  you  full  of  blessing.  And  what  you  read  in  the 
Scriptures  as  there  addressed  to  every  man  you  will, 
as  you  inwardly  weigh  it,  know  to  be  spoken  to  yourself; 
as  when  it  is  said,  "  My  son,  be  wise,  and  make  my  heart 
glad;"  for  you  cannot,  if  you  think,  doubt  that  your 
being  "  wise  "  with  the  true  wisdom  is  not  only  what  God 
wills  for  you,  but  also  what  it  will  make  His  heart  glad  to  see  ' 
you.  A  wonderful  thought !  but  most  true  :  a  voice  to  us 
from  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  a  ray  from  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Christ. 


1871-72.  THE  WAR.  303 

To  his  Third  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  2nd  February,  1871. 

We  are  venturing  to  breathe  more  freely  with  the  prospect 
of  peace.  It  has  been  a  terrible  time  ;  but  while  sympathiz- 
ing with  both  parties  in  what  they  may  have  been  suffering, 
and  although  not  quite  satisfied  that  either  has  suffered  under 
an  absolute  necessity,  I  have  seen  more  to  blame  in  the  part 
of  France  than  in  that  of  Prussia,  not  only  at  the  first,  when 
all  I  think  blamed  the  aggressor ;  but  after  Sedan  and  then 
Metz  to  continue  a  hopeless  struggle  was  not  guiltless. 
Whatever  patriotism  might  be  present,  there  were  other  ele- 
ments very  wrong  in  this  refusal  to  "  accept  their  punish- 
ment," by  which  the  punishment  has  become  so  much 
heavier  than  it  need  have  been. 

1 6th  March. 

I  enclose  a  letter  from  Bob.  I  see  he  is  like  yourself 
"  French  "  as  the  phrase  is.  I  certainly  am  not, — beyond  a 
deep  sympathy  with  their  physical  suffering,  and  deep  sorrow 
for  their  seeming  unteachableness,  which  seems  likely  to 
make  that  physical  suffering  fruitless  of  moral  gain.  But  I 
also  object  to  being  regarded  as  "  German ; "  the  course 
they  have  judged  themselves  called  to  follow  not  being  what, 
if  they  were  dealing  with  God  who  is  love  as  Christians, 
rather  than  as  philosophers  with  fixed  laws,  they  would  I 
think  have  chosen. 

I  do  not  see  that  they  have  indeed  dealt  more  hardly  with 
the  French  than  the  French,  mutatis  mutandis,  would  have 
dealt  with  them;  and  this  should  shut  the  mouths  of  the 
French.  But  that  was  not  the  question;  and  I  wish  they  had 
rather  attempted  to  "  overcome  evil  with  good,"  than  by 
crushing  their  enemy  to  make  fresh  evil  less  possible. 

As  to  the  future,  and  the  change  to  Europe,  the  Germans 


304. 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 


being  now  the  head  Continental  people,  I  would  call  it 
a  change  for  the  better,  were  I  not  fearful  as  to  their  adher- 
ence to  what  were  their  own  moderate  thoughts,  while  yet 
only  in  a  second  place. 

The  revelation — for  it  is  such  even  to  themselves,  I 
believe — of  their  great  strength,  will  bring  the  impulse  to 
use  it  as  a  giant. 

To  his  Eldest  Son.   . 

ACHNASHIE,  24th  February,  1871. 

[After  referring  to  an  article  on  the  "  Voysey  judgment :"] 
Voysey  pained  me  much  more  by  the  manner  and  spirit  of 
his  pleadings  than  by  errors ;  with  which,  in  the  form  of 
Unitarianism,  I  had  so  long  been  acquainted,  and  which  I 
had  seemed  to  myself  to  have  justly  rejected  after  the  fullest 
and  fairest  consideration.  (You  know  how  intercourse  when 
a  student  with  Unitarians  neutralized  the  natural  influence  of 
my  home  training,  and  caused  me  to  treat  as  "  open  ques- 
tions "  what  might  not  otherwise  have  been  such  to  me.) 

The  present  demand  to  be  "  allowed  to  preach  Unitarian- 
ism within  the  church,"  which  is  taking  the  place  of  "  the 
alternative  to  leave  the  church  or  keep  silence  "  of  my  young 
days,  has  a  side  on  which  it  may  be  held  a  change  for  the 
better.  But,  however  this  may  be,  one  thing  is  not  better  ; 
viz.,  the  manner  of  preaching  with  which  this  new  demand  is 
associated.  It  is  difficult,  doubtless,  to  do  justice  to  the  way 
taken  in  contending  for  what  one  rejects  as  error.  Yet  try- 
ing, as  I  always  do,  to  look  from  the  standpoint  of  a  contro- 
versialist, however  much  I  differ  from  him,  I  cannot  but  feel 
that  the  substance  of  his  convictions,  did  I  arrive  at  them, 
would  not  have  justified  me  to  myself  in  assuming  his  bear- 
ing towards  the  Articles,  or  the  original  framers  of  them,  or 
those  who  now  accept  them. 

I  have  spoken  to  you  of  two  opposite  temptations,  to 


1871-72.  MAURICE  AND  JOWETT.  305 

which  men  of  the  two  opposite  types  of  Mr.  Maurice  and 
Mr.  Jowett  are  exposed ;  (while  alike  in  their  demand  to  be 
at  liberty  to  receive  nothing  that  they  cannot  justify  ;)  viz., 
the  temptation  to  strain  Scripture  to  make  it  say  what  a  man 
seems  to  himself  to  see  to  be  true,  and  the  temptation  to 
conclude  too  easily  that  the  Scriptures  say  that  unbelievable 
thing  which  to  a  superficial  view — or,  it  may  be,  because  of 
traditional  glosses — they  seem  to  say,  because  of  the  liberty 
taken  to  reject  the  teaching  all  the  same.  This  latter  temp- 
tation, which  first  struck  me  as  yielded  to  in  Mr.  Jowett's 
(as  I  conceive)  misconception  of  St.  Paul's  controversy  with 
St.  Peter,  seems  to  take  in  Mr.  Voysey  the  two  forms  of  con- 
cluding, when  the  authenticity  of  a  writing  is  not  questioned, 
against  the  light  and  authority  of  the  writer;  or — when  these, 
as  in  what  is  ascribed  to  Christ  Himself,  are  not  questioned 
— concluding  against  the  authenticity  of  what  is  ascribed  to 
Him  (Christ),  but  is  not  seen  by  the  critic  to  be  worthy 
of  Him. 

You  know  how  much  my  own  experience  in  neither 
accepting  nor  rejecting  (by  a  strain  at  accommodation,  or  a 
bold  venturing  to  judge)  has  written  Scylla  and  Charybdis 
on  the  temptations  on  the  one  side  and  the  other ;  and  that 
much  that  shines  to  me  as  light — self-evidencing  light — in 
the  Scriptures,  I  never  could  have  so  known  had  I  taken 
either  of  these  opposite  courses. 

To  Dr.  Norman  Macleod. 

ACHNASHIE,  nth  March,  1871. 

My  dear  Norman, — You  are  much  in  my  thoughts,  and 
on  my  heart,  at  present,  the  reports  that  reach  me  of  you 
making  me  anxious  about  your  health  ;  while  I  know  that 
you  will  have  in  this  approaching  marriage  a  temptation  to 
what  may  be  an  unwise  effort  which  you  will  find  it  most 
difficult  to  resist.     Your  absence,  if  it  must  be,  will  be  a  real 

VOL.    II.  u 


3o6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

regret,  even  to  myself,  how  much  more  to  you;  both  because 
of  your  own  deep  interest  in  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  for 
whom  our  hearts  desire  and  our  prayers  ask  a  future  of  much 
blessing,  and  because  you  will  enter  so  much  into  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Queen,  and  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess.  The  neiv 
element  in  the  event  will  make  it  a  new  thing  in  feeling  to 
them  all.  I  am  thankful  for  the  widespread  interest  awakened. 
The  Campbell  element  in  this  interest  you  know  I  must 
share  in,  as  a  kind  of  subordinate  loyalty ;  but  I  have  so 
deep-seated  a  gratitude  to  the  Duke  and  Duchess  on  per- 
sonal grounds,  that  what  is  important  to  them  comes  very 
near  to  me. 

But  I  am  led  away  from  my  purpose  in  taking  up  my  un- 
wonted pen,  which  was  simply  the  expression  of  affection- 
ate sympathy.  I  know  you  are  a  brave  sufferer  ;  an  element 
in  your  patience  which  I  fear  I  am  more  able  to  admire  than 
qualified  by  experience  to  speak  of:  but  I  desire  to  think  of 
you  also  as  a  believing  sufferer,  of  which  manner  of  patience 
I  know  more  ;  and  to  which  I  can  with  a  clearer  conscience 
exhort.  I  know  that  sufferings,  physical  and  mental  alike,  are 
among  the  "  all  things  "  that  "  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God ;  "  and  in  the  faith  that  God  who  is  love 
expresses  the  root  and  essence  of  His  love  to  us  in  asking 
for  love  from  us,  and  is  blessing  us  most  when  He  most 
enables  us  to  respond  to  this  love  by  love, — in  the  light  of 
this  faith  I  understand  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God,  because  all  that  is  received  in 
love  quickens  the  love  in  which  it  is  received.  For  in  itself 
everything  as  it  comes  from  God  is  an  outcoming  of  love, — 
and  this  mark  our  love  is  quick  to  see  on  it, — and,  recog- 
nized as  a  form  of  love,  it  feeds  love.  I  sometimes  say,  that 
*'  love  to  God  is  the  spiritual  philosopher's  stone  that  turns 
all  things  to  gold."  At  this  moment  I  rather  see  that  all 
things  even  the  most  unwelcome  to  flesh  and  blood, 
are  really  gold,  in  respect  of  that  word  of  God  to  us  which  is 


1871-72.  NORMAN  MACLEOD.  307 

in  them.  So  our  love  to  God  is  the  spiritual  eye  which  sees 
them  as  they  are,  rather  than  a  charm  having  power  to  trans- 
mute. "  We  speak  that  we  do  know."  "  Lord,  increase  our 
faith." 

My  dear  friend,  be  thankful  for  both  endowments  in  their 
meeting  of  your  present  need — your  natural  courage  and 
your  faith. — Your  affectionate 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 
To  Mr.  Duncan. 

AcHNASHiE,  1st  April,  1871, 

I  think  of  you  and  your  interest  in  France  and  memories 
of  Paris,  and  recal  our  reading  together  the  history  that  made 
me  acquainted  with  the  old  Revolution — Mignet's.  "  The 
light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehendeth 
it  not."  This  was  the  explanation  to  me  in  1838  of  the 
semi-obliterated  words  on  the  entrance  to  the  "  Invalides  :" 
"  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity,  or  Death."  This  has  been, 
as  I  have  often  said,  the  explanation  also  of  the  "  universal 
republic,"  and  "  the  solidarity  of  peoples  ;"  the  response,  one 
may  say,  in  the  flesh  to  the  words  spoken  in  th  espirit  as  to 
the  "  oneness  of  all  flesh."  And  now  is  not  "property  is 
robbery"  related  in  the  same  way  to  "  no  man  said  that  any 
thing  he  had  was  his  own  "  ? 

The  only  and  the.  sufficient  comfort  is,  that  it  is  the  light, 
the  true  light,  which  is  not  comprehended — that  light  which 
will  overcome  the  darkness  which  for  the  present  has  the 
temporary  power  to  obscure  it,  and  even  to  pervert  it  to 
evil. 

What  I  most  feel  condemning  us  is  our  blindness  to  the 
evil  that  is  in  godless  life,  so  long  as  it  does  not  run  to  seed, 
as  now  it  is  doing  in  Paris. 


3o8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 


To  his  Second  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  6th  April,  1871. 

What  an  important  part  of  our  "  walking  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight"  is  our  finding  "our  life  in  God's  favour;" 
"  our  life  "  and  a  fortiori  our  rest  and  peace  !  And  what 
a  rest  of  freedom  and  strength  is  contained  in  the  clear 
understanding  of  the  harmonious  combination  of  divine 
strictness  and  divine  tenderness  which  there  is  in  the 
feelings  with  which  God  regards  us  in  our  endeavours  to 
serve  Him.  He  is  more  strict  than  another  master  could 
be,  because  He  sees  us  in  the  pure  light  of  the  Divine 
Ideal  for  us.  He  is  more  tender  than  another  master 
could  be,  because  He  takes  all  the  difficulties  of  our  path 
into  account. 

Two  passages  of  Scripture  bring  these  two  aspects  of  the 
divine  knowledge  of  us  together  to  my  mind  in  a  way  that  is 
full  of  comfort.  First,  that  139th  psalm  which  I  so  often 
expound  :  first,  God's  "  seeing  our  thoughts  ; "  then,  "  How 
precious  are  Thy  thoughts  unto  me,  O  God ;  "  and  then  the 
prayer  inviting  God  to  "  search  us  and  try  us,"  with  which  the 
psalm  closes.  The  other  passage  is  Heb.  iv.  12,  to  the  end 
of  the  chapter.  First,  God's  searching  word,  "  quick  "  (or 
living)  and  "piercing,"  and  then,  from  verse  14,  Christ  as 
our  interceding  compassionate  High  Priest.  This  psalm, 
and  these  five  verses  of  this  chapter  of  Hebrews,  are  to  me 
a  constant  call  to  cherish  the  sense  of  God's  eye  upon  me 
•  both  for  light  and  for  strength. 

Jack  has  raised  the  tone  of  the  Herald  much,  and  made  it 
really  one  of  our  best  papers.  He  has,  through  this  war, 
been,  as  they  speak,  a  Prussian  ;  sometimes,  to  my  mind, 
unreasonably,  but  more  generally  with  my  sympathy.  I 
thought  him  unreasonable  on  two  points  :  first,  in  holding 
that  we  might  have  prevented  the  war,  and  should  have. 


1871-72.  FRANCE  AND  PRUSSIA.  309 

saying  to  both  parties,  "  the  man  who  strikes  makes  me  his 
foe."  As  to  this,  I  neither  see  that  we  were  under  any  obH- 
gation  or  had  any  right  to  assume  this  attitude,  nor  that  our 
assuming  it  would  have  had  the  effect  he  supposes.  France 
was  too  self-confident  to  have  had  her  ann  so  stayed  ;  nor, 
had  we  joined  Prussia,  would  she  (France)  have  been  left 
without  allies,  for  the  wound  to  the  amour  propre  of  Austria 
was  still  tender. 

Then,  I  thought  him  unreasonable  also  as  to  our  not 
stopping  the  export  of  arms  to  France.  As  to  this  a  change 
in  our  existing  law  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  parties  during 
the  war  would  have  been  a  clear  departure  from  our  pro- 
fessed neutrality.  Whether  or  not  we  should  now  change 
the  law  prospectively  is  another  question, — lately  discussed 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  without  result. 

Whether  the  moral  and  political  rottenness  of  France? 
revealed  first  by  her  military  collapse,  and  now  by  her  pre- 
.sent  division  into  two  hostile  camps  of  republicans,  is  now, 
in  being  exposed  to  the  world,  nearer  a  cure,  though  appar- 
ently a  terrible  one,  we  know  not ;  nor  whether,  had  her 
hollow  prosperity  under  the  Empire  been  prolonged  by  the 
warding  off  of  the  war,  she  would  have  been  renovated  by 
some  peaceful  process  of  development  within  herself,  and 
victory  of  light  over  darkness. 

What  at  this  moment  is  to  me  most  saddening  is  this 
stepping  back  to  the  old  Revolution,  to  take  up  the  role  of 
the  elder  revolutionists,  where  it  was  stopped  by  the  Empire 
of  the  elder  Napoleon,  as  if  the  bitter  fruit  it  had  then 
already  borne  had  stamped  its  evil  in  vain.  Napoleon  said 
of  the  Bourbons  when  they  were  restored,  "  They  have 
learned  nothing — they  have  forgotten  nothing."  How  sadly, 
awfully,  true  of  the  Red  Republicans. 


MEMORIALS.  chap,  xv, 


To  /lis  Eldest  Son. 


ACHNASHIE,  5th  April,  1871. 

.  .  .  I  have  just  been  reading  Hutton's  Essay  on  what 
he  calls  "  the  Hard  Church."  Rather  a  happy  name,  as  he 
could  not  place  the  minds  he  describes  (with  illustrations)  in 
any  of  the  three  existing  categories.  His  essays  indicate 
some  deep  thinking  ;  while  his  thoughts  are  all  sharp  ad — 
almost  too  much  so,  sometimes,  for  absolute  truth,  though 
not  for  logical  impression.  I  meant  to  take  them  up  with 
me  to  return  them  to  Norman.  I  hope  my  poor  memory 
may  serve  me  as  to  the  strictures  which  have  occurred  to  me 
in  reading  them. 

I  am  while  ^\Titing  expecting  to  be  interrupted  by  Mr. 
Knight,  a  friend  of  P.  Stevenson's,  who  has  wished  to  see 
me.  A  small  volume^  of  notes  of  his  friend  Dr.  Duncan's 
thoughts  expressed  in  conversation  interested  me  in  him ;  as 
well  as  being  a  welcome  addition  to  my  knowledge  of  a  man 
whom  I  knew  and  thought  a  good  deal  of;  but,  I  now  see, 
much  less  than  was  his  due. 

To  the  Same  : 

A/te}-  the  Pi-esentation  of  the  Vase. 

AcHNASHiE,  14th  April,  1871. 

.  .  .  Norman  was  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Committee, 
and  spoke  with  deep  feeling  and  taste  and  discretion  too. 

.  .  .  I  said  very  little;  only  what  Norman's  words 
led  me  to  say;  and  many  things  have  since  occurred 
to  me  which  I  might  have  said,  and  which  it  would 
have  been  good  to  have  said.  But  this  cannot  be  helped. 
One  thing  not  said,  and  which  would  have  come  in  naturally, 

1  Colloqida  Peripatetka.  Dr.  Duncan  was  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the 
Free  Church  College,  Edinburgh. 


1871-72.  TP{E  PRESENTATION.  311 

after  the  expression  of  the  feeling  with  which  I  have  never 
ceased  to  regard  the  Church  of  Scotland,  is,  the  thankfulness 
I  feel  for  having  been  saved  from  any  temptation  to  attempt 
to  found  a  sect ;  cherishing  a  catholicity  with  which  such  an 
attempt  might  have  been  incompatible  ;  of  which  catholicity 
I  might  regard  as  one  pleasant  fruit  that  the  members  of  the 
Committee  represented  the  Free  Church  and  United  Pres- 
byterian, as  well  as  the  Established  Church,  and  also  the 
Episcopal  Church ;  and  Mental  Philosophy  also,  in  the 
persons  of  the  Professors  of  Logic  and  Moral  Philosophy. 

The  great  interest  of  the  presentation  was  of  course  i)n- 
personal ;  i.e.,  the  response  to  the  preaching  of  Christ  which 
it  professed  to  express,  and  which  in  various  measures  it  did 
I  trust  truly  express.  But  the  personal  regard  manifested 
was  also  grateful  to  me  ;  and  dear  Norman's  deep  feeling  in 
speaking  for  the  donors  was  almost  overcoming.  A  solemnity 
befitting  the  religious  interest  of  the  occasion,  and  a  tender- 
ness as  speaking  to  his  "  oldest  and  dearest  friend,"  pervaded 
all  his  words  and  the  tones  of  his  voice.  His  brief  and 
delicate  allusion  to  my  deposition  was  also  very  happy. 
I  wish  I  could  recal  what  he  said  ;  but  I  was  feeling  too 
much  to  retain  more  than  the  memory  of  feeling.  He  was,  I 
believe,  thankful  for  himself — as  certainly  I  was  thankful — 
that  he  was  chosen  to  speak  for  the  Committee.  On  many 
grounds  he  must  have  been  felt  to  be  "  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place  ;  "  while  to  himself  and  to  me  the  word  "  relative  " 
spoke  as  others  could  not  understand  of  a  circle — partly  in 
the  invisible,  but  partly  also  in  the  visible  still — to  whom 
what  he  was  then  doing  was  a  family  interest — in  some  deep 
indeed. 

.  .  .  Norman's  expectation  is  to  leave  for  Ems  to- 
morrow week.  He  is  somewhat  better  than  he  was  when 
your  mother  and  I  saw  him  at  Shandon,  and  says  he  feels  it 
a  good  sign  that  he  is  more  inclined  to  go. 


312  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

2 1st  April. 

.  .  .  I  find  that  the  intense  feeUng  which  Norman's 
own  words  awakened  hindered  my  fully  appreciating  at  the 
time  the  address  of  the  Committee ;  but  in  reading  it  after  I 
had  written  to  you,  I  felt  the  measure  of  regret  at  omissions 
on  my  own  part  quite  passing  away. 

Of  course  /  cannot  but  feel  such  a  testimony  as  rather 
applicable  to  the  ideal  that  I  had  before  me  than  to  what  I 
attained.  But  it  is  something  to  have  even  suggested  the 
right  ideal. 

25th  April. 

.  .  .  I  have  just  been  having  ray  feeling  of  the  call  to 
thankfulness  in  this  presentation  renewed  by  reading  the 
report  in  the  Times,  sent  by  my  beloved  sister,  and  come 
this  morning.  The  sight  of  it  has  drawn  from  D.  J. 
Vaughan  a  most  (to  me)  affecting  letter  which  you  will  see. 
Vaughan  notices  the  advantage  I  enjoyed  in  being  called  to 
witness  for  deep  fundamental  truth,  and  this  I  have  often 
myself  felt ;  and  still  more  that  I  spoke  in  a  light  of  experi- 
ence, which  made  me  more  a  witness  than  an  arguer. 

1st  May,  1S71. 

Your  beloved  mother's  letters  being  angel  visits,  few  and 
far  between,  I  might  hold  her  one  sheet  enough ;  but  she 
wishes  me  myself  to  say  how  well  I  am,  on  this  May  day — 
so  nearly  the  eve  of  my  seventy-first  birthday,  and  in  this  the 
fiftieth  summer  since  I  was  licensed,  the  forty-sixth  since  I 
was  ordained,  the  fortieth  since  I  was  deposed,  and  my  brief 
career  of  five  years  and  nine  months  in  the  ministry  of  the 
church  closed.  I  am  indeed  very  well ;  and  she  is  well 
also  ;  and  we  enjoy  together  this  beautiful  region  and  quiet 
home,  recalling  past  and  present  mercies  ;  and  as  to  our 
beloved  children  feeling  them  all  though  absent  a  present 
riches  to  our  hearts.     So,  beloved  son,  speak  no  more  of 


1871-72.  ACHNASHIE.  313 

our  "  loneliness."     Our  Robert  has  naturally  at  this  time  a 
chief  place  in  our  thoughts,  in  our  care,  in  our  prayers. 

I  have  just  enclosed  to  M.  a  letter  from ,     Letters 

come  in  thus,  in  supplement  of  the  presentation,  echoes  of 
its  voice,  both  in  its  comforting  and  humbling  power. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

AcHNASiiiE,  7th  May,  1871. 

This  is  the  lovely  evening  of  a  most  lovely  day.  I  have 
been  listening  to  Mama  reading  since  tea,  but  have  reserved 
an  hour  for  you. 

I  will  not  say  "  I  wish  you  were  here  "  to  enjoy  Achnashie 
with  us  ;  though  my  solitary  stroll  after  breakfast  and  Mama's 
and  my  visit  to  every  corner  of  our  domain  between  dinner 
and  tea,  could  not  but  again  and  again  take  our  thoughts  to 
you  and  the  rest  far  and  near  with  whom  we  could  fain  share 
our  enjoyment.  But  I  will  not  say  "  I  wish  you  were  here." 
You  too  have  probably  a  beautiful  evening  at  Headlands, 
and  you  are  mutually  enjoying  your  choice  party  with  all 
that  increased  capacity  of  mutual  enjoyment  which  a  beauti- 
ful evening  and  its  exhilarating  influence  brings.  So  I  am 
contented  you  should  be  drinking  the  cujd  filled  there  for 
you,  while  we  drink  that  filled  here  for  us. 

Mama  has  showed  me  a  ring  of  gentians  encircling  one 
of  the  round  plots,  richer  in  its  deep  blue  flower  than  ever 
we  knew  it  at  Laurel  Bank.  Our  lauristinuses,  especially 
the  large  one,  are  almost  as  white  as  "  the  may."  The  large 
sycamore  has  been  so  beautiful  and  delicate  an  apple  green 
in  our  afternoon  sun.  Though  so  many  of  the  plots  are  still 
deaf  to  the  charming  of  the  sun  "  charm  he  never  so  wisely," 
those  nearer  the  house  respond  in  all  the  gay  hues  of 
hyacinths  and  tulips.  A  bird  cherry  has  flowered  richly. 
Many  laurels  are  full  of  flower.  Spruces  and  American  pines 
are   tipping   their   outmost  twigs  with  those   golden  fresh 


314  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

growths,  which  of  old  in  the  fir  park  near  the  church  at 
Kilninver  I  used  to  call  "  new  gloves,"  and  we  are  rich  in 
primroses,  though  they  are  late. 

The  heat  haze  which  must  dim  our  Grampians  to  the  best 
eyes  makes  them  mist  to  me ;  only  with  the  glass  I  see  their 
outlines,  and  the  snow  patches  still  on  the  Cobbler  and 
Ben  Im,  not  even  by  the  real  sight  of  it  lessening  the  feeling 
of  the  summer's  heat,  but  I  think  adding  something  to  the 
enjoyment  of  it. 

Is  this  your  last  Sunday  at  Headlands  ?  I  do  not  know 
what  my  darling  Jean  shares  of  my  root-striking  tendency. 

The  sun  has  set.  The  north  is  all  golden  sky.  All  mist 
is  gone.  The  mountains  are  a  beautiful  blue,  like  Arran 
from  Ardrossan  as  we  have  seen  it. 

With  our  united  love  to  you  all,  your  loving  Father. 


To  his  Eldest  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  2nd  June,  1871. 

M.  has  expressed  their  wish  to  have  some  of  Mr.  Erskine's 
letters  to  me,  for  a  volume  of  letters,  I  understand.  I  find 
that  I  have  more  than  I  was  aware  of,  but  so  far  as  I  have  yet 
examined  them  not  suited  to  what  is  the  purpose  of  a  volume 
of  letters,  especially  if  without  the  running  commentary 
of  a  life.  Our  intercourse  was  very  free,  and  I  generally 
was  able  to  say  intelligibly  enough  for  him  with  whom  I  had 
so  much  common  ground  what  I  desired  to  say  either  in 
agreeing  with  him  or  in  differing  with  him.  But  you  know 
how  difficult  writing  on  any  deep  matter  is  to  me  ;  so  I  sel- 
dom wrote  to  him,  and  therefore  seldom  received  from  him 
letters  of  no  "private  interpretation."  The  man  himself  was 
in  his  letters  more  I  think  than  any  man  I  ever  knew, — his 
heart  and  life, — but  coming  out  in  such  special  relation  to 
his  friend  as  made  his  letters   "private  and  confidential," 


1871-72.  MR.  ERSKINE'S  LETTERS.  315 

even  when  their  essence  was,  as  it  usually  was,  the  common 
salvation. 

I  hope  to  go  to  Parkhill  on  Monday.  I  am  glad  to  have 
the  May  number  of  the  Conte77tporary  to  take  with  me.  It 
has  several  articles  that  will  interest  Mr.  Duncan.  It  has 
been  left  with  me  by  my  late  visitant,  Mr.  M.,  who  came 
to  us  on  Monday,  and  left  on  Wednesday.  Robert  Story's 
life  of  his  father  and  the  Row  sermons  have  given  this 
locality  an  interest  to  him. 


To  Mrs.  Macnabb. 

AcHNASHiE,  4th  June,  1871. 

I  trust  your  bed  of  weakness  and  suffering  is  still  cheered 
by  many  seasons  of  believing  meditation  and  communion 
with  our  gracious  God ;  which  will  make,  on  the  whole, 
thankfulness  your  deepest  feeling.  I  have  often  asked 
myself  "  why  should  not  God  so  deal  with  His  children 
othenvise  experiencing  sore  pain,  as  He  has  often  dealt  with 
martyrs  at  the  stake  ?"  Any  great  pain  endured  in  faith  may 
well  be  the  occasion  of  such  acknowledgment.  And  I  have 
always  remembered  Brainerd's  case,  who,  near  the  close, 
when  coming  out  of  some  great  paroxysm  of  agony  which  it 
greatly  moved  those  about  him  to  witness,  said,  "I  have  had 
such  joy  in  God  in  the  midst  of  it  that  I  would  prefer  that 
joy  with  that  pain  to  ordinar)-  joy  in  God  in  freedom  from 
pain." 

To  his  Third  Son. 

ACHNASHIE,  23rd  June,  1S71. 

Your  mother  and  I  got  safe  home  last  evening  from  Park- 
hill,  having  gone  there  on  the  5th.  We  have  had  a  pleasant 
visit  to  our  dear  friends. 

You  will  believe  that  this  hope  of  John's  coming  to  us,. 


3i6  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

though  for  so  brief  a.  visit,  is  gladdening  our  hearts,  and  we 
trust  the  permission  on  which  he  almost  calculated  has  been 
granted.  You  will  be,  in  a  sense,  undowed  for  the  three 
months  of  his  absence  from  Bombay,  but  you  will  be  enjoy- 
ing the  happy  meetings  which  you  will  be  picturing  to 
yourself. 

I  have  just  received  from  Nomian  his  new  book,  his  Indian 
trip,  substantially  the  articles  in  Good  Words,  but  in  part 
rewritten.  We  lunched  with  him  yesterday,  and  we  were 
thankful  to  see  him  seemingly  much  benefited  by  his  time  at 
Ems,  from  which  he  only  returned  last  week.  I  had  no  less 
than  three  hours  of  Norman,  which  I  valued  the  more  as  the 
opportunities  for  our  meeting  must  now  be  rarer. 

Our  beautiful  Achnashie  welcomed  us  home  with  a  look  of 
bright  beauty.  Some  of  our  rhododendrons  had,  indeed, 
passed  their  prime  in  our  absence,  but  others  are  only  com- 
ing to  it. 

This  is  a  hurried  letter  not  to  let  the  mail  be  blank. 

To  his  Eldest  Daughter. 

AcuNASHiE,  27th  June,  1871. 

I  like  to  let  some  infusion  of  my  thinking  and  feeling  flow 
into  the  stream  of  your  life  from  time  to  time ;  although  I 
know  that  there  will  be  no  lack  of  the  element  I  would  add, 
if  you  are  indeed  keeping  your  heart  with  all  diligence,  and 
listening  to  the  voice  which  is  ever  testifying  as  to  the  path 
of  life,  "  This  is  the  way,  walk  in  it."  For  however  silent 
this  inward  voice  may  often  seem  to  be  when  we  are  listening 
for  a  guiding  word  as  to  our  outzvard  path,  it  is  never  silent 
as  to  the  path  in  which  our  spirits  are  called  to  move,  the 
narrow  path  in  which  are  the  footprints  of  Christ. 

In  just  now  meditating  a  letter  to  you,  as  I  was  coming  in 
to  write,  the  varied  enjoyment  you  have  been  having  came 
before    me    in    a    relation    to    words    of  Henry    Dorney, 


1871-72.  HENRY  DORNEY.  317 

with  Brainerd  and  Henry  Martyn  the  third  of  ray  old 
friends  and  companions  in  my  early  Row  times  :  "  It  is  good 
to  be  busy  in  lawful  work,  if  so  be  that  communion  with  that 
which  is  above  be  as  the  oil  to  the  wheel  of  all  our  actions." 
These  words  seem  to  me  applicable  to  all  right  enjoyment, 
as  well  as  all  lawful  work,  for  nothing  more  than  social  enjoy- 
ment needs  for  its  sanctification  that  "  communion  with 
that  which  is  above"  of  which  Dorney  was  thinking,  a  joy 
in  God's  love  which  has  power  to  empty  of  the  poison  of 
self  our  social  intercourse  with  others,  and  substitute  for  it 
fellowship  in  the  love  of  Christ  to  them  and  to  us. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  7th  July,  1871. 

The  Spectator  sent  last  week  had  a  review  of  Mr.  Erskine's 
posthumous  book,  with  which  you  will  have  made  acquaint- 
ance ere  now,  as  I  ordered  copies  for  John  and  you  imme- 
diately on  its  appearing.  You  will  see  in  this  review  the 
essence  of  the  thought  of  the  book,  but  the  spirit  of  the  book 
could  not  be  so  given  ;  and  I  look  to  the  spirit  that  per- 
vades it,  more  than  to  the  argument,  for  power  to  conciliate 
many  who  will  feel  the  bare  statement  of  his  conclusion 
repulsive. 

I  have  just  been  reading  his  letters  to  me,  to  set  apart  for 
preservation  those  that  it  seems  right  to  preserve. 

The  reading  now  of  the  book  as  a  whole  still  leaves  the 
same  impression  that  I  received  when  he  read  portions  of 
the  manuscript  to  me ;  viz.,  that  is  an  imperfect  representa- 
tion of  punishment  that  resolves  it  into  the  desire  to  reclaim. 
But  the  conclusion  at  which  he  arrives  is  not  necessarily 
affected  by  this  defect ;  for  that  other  element  in  punishment 
which  he  seems  not  to  recognize  does  not  necessarily  involve 
the  ordinary  doctrine.  I  am  thankful  to  see  the  Spectator 
drawing  attention   so  emphatically  to    the   wide   difference 


3i8  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

TDetween  this  volume  and  ordinary  arguments  for  Universal- 
ism,  in  the  deep  sense  of  the  divine  condemnation  of  sin  which 
possessed  Mr.  Erskine. 


To  his  Second  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  22nd  July,  1871. 

My  dearest  John, — "  My  own  boy  "  you  will  still  be 
■coming  back  to  me,  though  in  the  guise  of  a  bearded  man, 
with  the  impress  of  so  much  manly  work  upon  you  ;  but 
which  has  been  transacted  in  your  outer  man  by  your  brain, 
and  will  have  left  undisturbed  the  deep  well  of  your  heart, 
with  its  fulness  of  home  affections. 

In  what  concerns  that  region  you  know  you  will  find  no 
change  in  us,  as  we  will  none  in  you,  only  in  so  far  as  the 
trial  of  mutual  interest  by  separation  has  been  its  strengthen- 
ing ;  even  as  in  the  highest  region  whatever  tries  the  faith  of 
love,  making  demands  on  it,  strengthens  it. 

Welcome  back,  beloved  son  !  My  heart  is  7iot  sensibly 
older,  though  my  sight  is  more  dim,  and  other  outward 
tokens  of  age  are  not  wanting,  which  will  be  more  sensible 
to  you  than  to  those  with  me  all  along. 

Our  hearts  are  very  full  in  looking  forward  to  so  near  a 
meeting.  May  we  come  together  and  be  together  in  the 
light  of  the  love  which  has  given  us  to  each  other. 

To  his  Third  Son. 

ACHNASHIE,    17th  August,    187I. 

My  dearest  James, — Our  John  reached  us  safe  and  well 
on  Tuesday,  one  p.m.  He  is  looking  delightfully  like  his 
own  dear  self,  and,  better,  is  his  own  dear  old  self  The 
Lord  is  filling  our  cup  of  family  bliss,  and  you,  beloved 
absent  one,  are  all  the  more  present  in  our  thoughts  and 


1871-72.  A  FAREWELL.  319 

hearts  because  of  the  irrepressible  "  Oh  !  that  he  could 
have  been  with  us  !"  But  I  am  not  rebellious,  and  let  me 
not  seem  to  be.  We  are  together  in  the  thought  and  love  of 
our  God,  who  teaches  us  to  love  one  another,  and  His  will 
not  only  ought  to  be,  but  is  welcome. 


To  his  Youngest  Son. 

ACHNASHIE,  26th  September,  1871. 

My  dearest  Robert, — -I  sat  down  yesterday  to  write  a 
few  farewell  words  to  each  of  you,  to  be  Avaiting  you  to-day  in 
London  ;  but  I  eventually  gave  the  whole  time  till  letters 
were  called  for  to  John — and  yet  more  as  your  brother  than 
as  himself,  dear  fellow ;  my  mind  being  full  of  your  start  in 
life,  and  of  the  value  to  you,  and  comfort  to  us,  of  your 
leaving  home  being  with  him.  I  hope,  if  the  Lord  will,  to 
be  permitted  yet  to  write  many  individual  letters  to  }'ou 
both.  If  I  can  write  once  a  week  to  one  or  other  of  you,  it 
will  be  a  letter  in  three  weeks  to  each ;  and  in  writing  to  you 
many  things  will  be  suggesting  themselves  in  supplement  of  our 
Achnashie  bank-talks,  which  may  help  you,  beloved  Robert, 
in  the  narrow  path,  in  which  it  is  my  hope  and  trust  that  you 
are  to  be  walking.  This  is  but  a  loving  "  farewell,"  and  a 
word  of  parental  blessing.  I  just  fall  back  on  the  words  of 
Mr.  Maurice  that  you  have  heard  me  quoting — "  I  never  can 
look  on  my  son  without  being  thankful  that  he  has  a  better 
Father  than  I  have  been  or  can  be."  Yet  am  I  also  thankful 
that  I  have  been  enabled  in  some  measure  to  be  to  you — to 
each  and  all  of  you — such  a  father,  so  true  a  father,  that, 
as  in  my  own  case,  the  experience  of  the  earthly  father 
has  helped  to  fill  with  meaning  the  words,  "  Heavenly 
Father." 


320  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

AcHNASHlE,  6th  October,  1871. 

I  remember  fifty  years  ago — or  rather  forty-five — my  bro- 
ther used  to  complain  that  my  letters,  however  welcome  as 
from  me,  had  one  defect ;  that  they  might  have  been  written 
from  any  spot  on  earth  as  well  as  from  Kilninver, — or  Row, 
it  more  probably  was.  And  this  defect  has  been  more  or  less 
discernible  in  my  letters  ever  since ;  at  least  in  my  letters  to 
my  nearest  and  dearest.  Somehow  in  writing  to  these  I  feel 
more  in  eternity  than  in  time ;  their  eternal  life  rising  before 
my  mind  between  me  and  their  temporal  life,  and  causing 
me  to  speak  to  them  rather  of  the  meat  which  endureth  unto 
eternal  life,  than  of  that  which  feeds  only  our  temporal  life  ; 
however  truly  I  share  in  the  most  evanescent  enjoyments  of 
the  passing  hour.  In  this  way  I  have  often  disappointed 
other  dear  ones  as  well  as  my  brother,  withholding  that 
expression  of  interest  in  their  daily  life  which  yet  I  felt ; — so 
seeming  to  hold  that  as  nothing  which  I  was  only  lowering 
to  a  second  place.  However,  I  do  not  now  do  this  as  I  did 
in  the  Row  days ;  partly  because  I  find  a  breadthening  virtue 
in  experietice ;  and  have  learned  to  see  more  of  the  meat 
which  endureth  in  its  combination  with  much  meat  which 
perishes,  than  I  had  then  discernment  of  This  means  that 
I  see  the  grace  of  God  in  the  gift  of  eternal  life,  and  the  tes- 
timony of  God  regarding  it,  not  only  in  the  gospel,  but  in 
all  the  relationships  of  life — especially  in  those  of  husband 
and  wife,  parent  and  child,  brother  and  sister.  These  truly 
enjoyed  according  to  the  intention  of  God  in  bestowing 
them,  and  in  using  them  to  fill  time  with  a  healthy  interest, 
tend  to  develop  in  us  elements  of  humanity  which  have 
their  ultimate  reference  to  eternal  life — being  all,  when  fully 
understood,  seen  to  be  so  many  different  forms  in  which  our 
God  and  Father  is  saying  to  us  that  His  gift  to  us  as  the 


1871-72.  RELATIONSHIPS  OF  LIFE.  321 

Father  of  our  Spirits  is  Eternal  life.  As  to  some  of  the  time 
relationships  which  have  their  more  obvious  use  in  their  tem- 
poral results,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  further  into  them  and 
understand  their  teaching  on  the  subject  of  eternal  life,  and 
their  fitness  to  help  our,  faith  in  eternal  life.  Thus,  however 
valuable  I  feel  my  father — my  beloved  and  honoured  father 
— to  have  been  to  me  as  so  important  an  element  in  what 
life  as  temporal  life  has  been  to  me  and  is,  I  feel  that  my 
highest  experience  of  value  in  him  as  a  gift  from  God  I 
know  to  be  the  help  to  faith  in  God's  Fatherliness  which  I 
have  had  in  his  fatherliness.  and  have  now  in  the  memory 
of  it.  So  also  in  looking  on  my  children  and  enjoying  them, 
and  tasting  the  sweetness  of  their  love,  the  value  of  that 
sweetness  is  ever  enhanced  by  the  help  it  yields  to  my  faith 
in  the  value  which  7ny  love  has  to  God.  And  doubtless  we 
would  more  desire  to  be  a  pleasure  to  our  God  did  we  more 
truly  believe  that  we  can  be  so  ;  that  is,  did  we  more  realize 
the  loving  interest  which  He  takes  in  us,  and  in  what  we  are. 
But  my  time  for  this  present  writing  is  used  up,  and  my  let- 
ter proves  a  very  good  illustration  of  that  old  character  of 
my  letters  of  which  I  have  been  speaking. 

To  his  Second  Son. 

AcHNASiiiE,  13th  October,  1871. 

\\q  had  two  letters  together  from  James  last  Sunday. 
It  is  pleasant  to  see  him  enjoying  your  surroundings  here 
in  sympathy  with  us  all,  enjoying  his  own  surroundings  there 
also,  though  so  different;  enjoyment  in  nature,  though  a 
different  aspect  of  nature,  being  the  common  element  in  his 
life  there,  and  in  our  life  here ;  while  also,  in  his  last,  occu- 
I)ied  with  your  leaving  us,  and  your  coming  to  him. 

It  is  a  great  happiness  to  me  to  see  my  children  so  rich  in 
each  other's  affections,  as  well  as  in  their  mother's  and  my 
own ;  while  my  heart  rises  to  God  in  thankful  acknowledg- 

VOL.  II.  X 


322  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

ment  of  His  love  as  the  foundation  of  all  love,  in  earnest 
prayer  for  a  growing  discernment  of  this  in  you  and  in  us. 

How  many  thoughts  in  my  thinking  of  you  since  we 
parted,  bring  with  them  the  wish  that  they  had  been  subjects 
of  our  converse  when  we  tvere  together !  How  unsatisfactory 
a  supplement  letters  are  !     But  still  to  be  used  thankfully. 

As  to  higher  matters,  while  I  hope  to  be  able  to  write,  I 
may  from  time  to  time  avail  myself  of  your  possession  of  my 
books,  asking  you  to  recur  to  portions  of  them  though  you 
know  them  already :  and  now  I  would  ask  you  to  read  the 
second  last  chapter  of  the  Nature  of  the  Atonement.  I 
have  had  it  read  to  me  lately,  and  was  thankful  to  find  it  a 
more  perfect  exposition  of  Christianity  as  a  purpose  of 
God  to  be  realized  in  us  than  I  thought  I  had  been  able 
to  give. 

As  to  lower  but  still  important  aspects  of  life,  I  have 
nothing  to  which  to  refer  you ;  while  your  circumstances  are 
so  different  from  any  in  which  I  have  been  at  any  time,  that 
my  experience  here  has  less  promise  of  being  helpful  to  you 
than  in  what  belongs  to  any  true  experience  in  the  path  of 
life  which  is  one  for  us  all — our  acceptance  of  the  common 
salvation. 

I  do  not  venture  to  judge  for  you  in  questions  of  expendi- 
ture as  affected  by  your  social  position,  and  what  is  due  to 
the  credit  of  the  service.  I  think  you,  long  ago,  spoke  in 
some  letter  of  the  knowledge  which  in  the  service  everybody 
had  of  everybody's  income.  But  this  knowledge,  though  it 
is  a  temptation  to  everybody  to  judge  what  everybody 
should  spend,  of  course  confers  no  right  so  to  judge ; 
except  Mjithin  limits  at  least — limits  not  generally  kept  in 
view  by  the  men  judging,  but  which  ought  never  to  be 
lost  sight  of  by  the  judged.  Public  opinion  must  always  be 
taken  to  the  light  of  some  sound  principle  from  which  it  must 
derive  any  real  authority  over  us.  We  also  owe  it  to  the 
public,  as  our  contribution  to  its  wisdom,  that  we  shall  act 


1871-72.  BISHOP  EWING.  323 

out  our  own  convictions,  and  do  our  part  towards  giving  it  a 
healthy  to?ie.  Here  the  idea  that  what  is  everybody's  busi- 
ness is  nobody's  business  must  be  reversed;  for  what  is  every- 
body's business  is  really  everybody's  business  ;  and  unless 
we  feel  this  so  we  cannot  really  discharge  our  individual  debt 
to  society. 

To  the  Bishop  of  Argyll. 

4th  November,  1871. 

My  dear  Bishop, — I  have  not  the  number  of  the  Spectator 
in  question  beside  me,  sending  mine  on  to  Bombay ;  nor, 
had  I  it,  could  1  be  of  any  help.  Many  articles  in  the 
Spectator  and  "  letters  to  the  Editor"  have  from  time  to  time 
been  a  temptation  to  me  to  write,  which  I  have  resisted. 
This  article  was  such  a  "  temptation  resisted."  You  know  I 
have  not  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  ;  which  has  advantages — 
saves  from  rushing  into  print. 

I  cannot  anticipate  the  decision  of  your  College  of 
Bishops  ;  only  I  always  think  of  you  as  in  a  minority,  if  not 
yourself  the  minority.  Mr.  Oldham  has  proposed  to  me  to 
be  at  the  opening  of  the  new  St.  Mary's  on  Thursday ;  but  I 
have  decided  not  to  go,  although  interested  in  the  occasion. 
I  am  wonderfully  well  keeping  quiet  at  home,  but  feel  that  I 
have  no  supply  of  strength  to  draw  on.  I  was  very  sorry 
not  to  have  been  able  to  go  to  Broom,  and  especially  because 
your  brother,  whose  acquaintance  I  have  desired  to  make, 
was  of  your  party.  .  .  To  us  here  family  affection  has 
been  just  now  the  source  of  some  anxiety,  indeed  a  good 
deal ;  but  I  trust  we  may  feel  relieved.  I  refer  to  the  illness 
of  William  and  Jean's  little  Walter.  The  sweet  lamb  has 
been  hitherto  only  an  enjoyment;  an  anxiety  now  for  the 
first  time.  But  one  Love  sends  both,  the  enjoyment  and  the 
anxiety.  "  In  all  things  give  thanks."  May  they  not  find 
this  a  "  hard  saying,"  but  receive  it  in  the  faith  that  things 


324  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

in  themselves  not  joyous  but  grievous  have  yet  a  just  claim 
on  our  thanks  because  of  their  fitness  to  do  us  good. 

I  am  thankful  to  say  that  Mrs.  Campbell  is  better.  The 
relief  with  which  such  words  are  spoken  may  seem  incon- 
sistent with  that  faith  as  to  the  presence  of  a  good  in  ever}' 
thing  as  it  comes  to  us  from  God.  But  we  know  that  there 
is  in  this  no  inconsistence. — Ever  yours  most  truly, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 

ACHNASHIE,  ROSNEATH,  DinnhartoHshire. 

Is  it  the  kindly  wish  to  include  me  in  the  number  of  your 
clergy  that  causes  you  to  embrace  Rosneath  in  your  diocese 

of  Argyll  ? 

To  his  Eldest  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  5th  November,  1871. 

Your  anxieties  for  your  mother  will  have  been  relieved  by 
M.'s  improved  accounts  of  her.  Thankfulness  is  a  good  tonic. 
Joy  is  strength,  as  sorrow  is  weakness.  Would  that  we 
knew  more  than  any  of  us  do  that  "  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is 
our  strength."  We  are  so  often  living  in  the  weakening 
sense  of  some  one  trying  circumstance  of  our  state,  as  if  that 
trying  circumstance  were  the  ivJwIe  circle,  in  which,  indeed, 
it  is  but  a  small  point ;  as  we  see  it  to  be  when  divine  light 
shines  on  the  whole  circle — "  the  bounds  of  our  habitation,"  a 
circle  of  circumstances  divinely  fitted  to  move  us  to  seek 
God,  to  help  us  to  find  Him— Him,  who  is  beyond  and 
around  as  He  is  also  in  all  that  encompasses  our  conscious 
self,  being  Himself  "  our  dwelling  place  in  all  generations." 
The  forms  of  self-blame — of  just  self-blame — are  many;  as  we 
see  and  confess  them  to  be  when  taking  ourselves  to  the 
light  of  our  true  ideal.  No  form  of  self-blame  more  often 
humbles  me  than  that  to  which  I  am  now  referring — viz., 
my  submitting  to  the  depressing  harassing  power  of  some 


1871-72.  ROBERT  srOKV.  325 

one  thing  among  the  all  things  appointed  for  me,  some  one 
thing  in  itself  not  joyous  but  grievous,  while  still  no  real  ex- 
ception to  the  law  of  the  kingdom  of  God  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God. 

I  have  begun  again  at  the  beginning  with  my  writing,  and 
am  making  I  think  a  more  hopeful  start. 

Many  thanks  for  the  Guardian.  Professor  Lightfoot's 
paper  is  extremely  good. 

We  had  a  beautiful  sermon  from  Robert  Story  to-day.  I 
am  thankful  for  the  true  sympathy  with  which  he  enters  into 
any  deep  sorrow  of  any  of  his  people,  and  for  the  heart  he 
manifests  altogether.  To-day's  sermon  was  in  some  measure 
a  funeral  sermon  for  his  father's  old  bellman. 

15111  December,  1871. 

We  have  been  feeling  much  in  sympathy  with  the  Royal 
family  ;  and  our  minds  have  been  passing  back  and  forward 
from  this  our  near  and  home  sorrow^  to  that  national  anxiety 
and  to  those  on  whom  its  severity  is  concentrated.  You 
will  not  be  surprised  that  my  regular  turiiiug  has  been  very 
much  suspended,  while  my  desire  to  write  something  more 
to  help  to  true  thoughts  of  our  God  presses  on  me  as  much 
as  ever. 

We  have  just  received  these  improved  accounts  of  the 
Prince.     He  may  yet  be  given  to  the  nation's  cry. 

To  /lis  Third  S(3N. 

Acn.NASHiE,  4th  January,  1872. 

I  do  not  remember  whether  you  have  from  me  any  antici 
pation  of  this  season  of  good  wishes  for  friends,  and  you  will 
have  had  some  taste  of  this  new  year  before  this  letter  reaches 
you  ;   I   trust  a  good  beginning.     You  will  all  know  how 

^  The  death  of  a  niece. 


326  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

much  this  time  of  family  gatherings  intensifies  our  constant 
remembrances  of  our  beloved  distant  ones.  This  time 
Christmas  day  was  signalized  by  letters  from  you  all  three  ; 
and  we  have  some  later  letters  which  came  just  before  the 
close  of  the  year.  How  much  all  these  letters  have  con- 
tributed to  our  Christmas  "  good  cheer."  How  much  your 
letters  all  are  a  precious  element  in  our  life.  Our  children 
are  a  life  to  us  in  a  way  in  which  we  are  not,  are  not  intended 
to  be,  to  them  ;  but  more  especially  to  your  mother  to  whom 
home  and  home  duties  have  been  the  great  business  of 
existence  much  more  than  to  me,  who  ever  since  I  have 
ceased  to  have  special  pastoral  cares  have  continued  under 
that  "  care  of  all  the  churches  " — very  real  though  not,  with 
me,  apostolic — which  has  determined  so  much,  not  of  my 
thinking  only,  but  of  deep  interested  feeling  also  these  many 
years. 

We  have,  you  know,  Donald  and  Margaret,  and  are  a 
good  "  foursome  "  party  by  ourselves  ;  music,  reading  aloud, 
talk,  chiefly  of  our  absent  ones,  make  pleasant  evenings. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

AcHNASHiE,  5th  January,  1872. 

I  believe  that  J.'s  trial  is  such  as  very  deep  love  alone 
can  experience.  But  no  capacity  of  suffering  which  has  so 
excellent  an  origin  is  to  be  regretted,  or  to  be  wished  less. 
.     .     .     One  has  said, 

"  Better  to  have  loved  and  lost, 
Than  never  to  have  loved  at  all  ;  " 

and  so,  if  to  have  loved  is  even  in  that  case  better,  the 
betterness  is  greater  in  proportion  as  the  love  has  been 
intense.  .  .  But  indeed,  to  speak  of  having  loved  and 
lost  is  to  see  such  a  sorrow  as  this  only  in  the  light  of 
time — not  of  eterniiy :   "not  lost,   but  gone  before,"  is  the 


1871-72.  LESSONS  OF  SORROW.  ^27 

thought  that  has  come  to  the  help  of  many  bereaved  ones, 
and  I  trust  my  dear  J.  will  be  able  to  welcome  its  help. 
As  to  his  memories  of  her  who  has  "  gone  before  "  he  will 
have  no  difficulty ;  nor  will  he,  I  trust,  as  to  the  strength  of 
his  own  purpose  to  follow  in  the  path  of  the  same  faith.  It 
is  indeed,  strictly  considered,  a  contradiction  to  feel  comfort 
as  to  another  because  of  that  other's  faith  in  Christ,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  have  difficulty  in  trusting  otnselves  to  Christ, 
and  appropriating  to  ourselves  all  the  comfort  of  His  trust- 
worthiness— trustworthiness  alike  as  to  power  and  faithful- 
ness; and  it  is  a  contradiction  into  which  we  are  not  in 
danger  of  falling  z/we  are  in  the  light  of  the  freeness  of  the 
grace  of  God — that  is  to  say,  are  seeing  that  all  that  inspires 
trust  in  Christ,  a  right  intelligent  trust,  exists  in  Him  in  rela- 
tion to  us  all  alike  :  therefore  that  no  one  is  justified  in  trust- 
ing if  any  other  is  not  free  to  trust. 

But  men  feel  comfort  in  the  confidence  felt  by  others  ' 
(especially  if  that  confidence  is  felt  in  dying),  who  do  not  yet 
see  the  same  confidence  free  to  themselves,  because,  where 
they  see  this  confidence  and  believe  it  real,  they  ascribe  it  to 
some  excellence  in  the  person's  self  who  is  expressing  con- 
fidence, and  not  to  their  clear  seeing  of  Christ's  trustworthi- 
ness. And  this  misconception  is  not  removed  by  any  words 
by  which  the  endeavour  is  made  (as  by  the  dying  it  so  often 
is)  to  turn  the  thoughts  of  surrounding  friends  from  oneself 
to  Christ.  These  words  fail  of  their  aim,  because  they  are 
heard  simply  as  the  language  of  a  beautiful  humility,  and  so 
hearing  them  we  are  left  admiring  the  dear  one  taken  from 
us,  but  not  brought  ourselves  one  bit  nearer  to  the  faith  we 
have  witnessed,  or  to  that  knowledge  of  Christ  by  which  it 
was  sustained. 

Rightly  considered,  another's  faith  is  to  us  a  call  to  taste 
and  see  that  God  is  good ;  that  those  who  trust  in  Him  are 
blessed. 


328  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 


To  his  Second  Son. 

AcHNASHiE,  13th  January,  1S72. 

Many  thanks  for  all  your  letters.  I  am  very  thankful  for 
all  that  refreshing  of  your  home  feelings  of  which  you  speak, 
although  it  be  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  liability  to 
symptoms  of  home-sickness.  Sickness  of  whatever  kind  has 
a  bright  as  well  as  a  dark  side,  because  of  the  value  as  men- 
tal discipline  which  belongs  to  it.  But  home-sickness  has  a 
peculiar  compensating  element  in  the  preciousness  of  the 
home  feeling  to  which  it  belongs. 

We  have  our  part  also  made  more  trying, — our  home,  so 
to  speak,  made  to  be  a  less  perfect  home  ;  that  is,  less  rich 
in  what  gives  its  sweetness  to  home.  The  temporary  increase 
thereof  while  you  were  with  us,  we  now  miss,  and  its  with- 
drawal did  not  leave  us  where  we  were,  because  of  that 
blank  of  which  you  speak  as  what  is  more  peculiarly  felt 
by  those  left  behind,  as  I  have  long  ago  learnt  to  be  the  case. 
But  we  would  not  part  \vith  our  feeling  of  blank ;  for  like 
home-sickness  it  has  its  compensating  element,  and  the  sweet 
after  all  prevails. 

To  his  Youngest  Daughter. 

ACHNASHIE,  8th  February,  1S72. 

Our  precious  young  traveller  reached  us  safe  and  well,  by 
the  expected  boat  yesterday,  in  an  hour  of  most  exquisite 
Gareloch  loveliness  :  land  and  sea  sleeping  in  bright  tran- 
quillity ;  all  nature  smiling  on  our  happy  meeting.  The 
darling  came  to  us  without  the  slightest  approach  to  shyness 
or  misgiving ; — grandmama  and  grandpapa  to  her  names  of 
love  as  truly,  though  in  a  second  place,  as  mama  and  papa, 
inspiring  equally  the  confidence  which  love  believed  alone 
inspires.     Oh  what  a  parable  ! 


1 87 1-72.     "  REMINISCENCES  &-  REFLECTIONS:'     329 
To  his  Eldest  Son. 

ACHNASHIE,  8th  February,  1872. 

M.  came  home  yesterday,  bringing  our  wee  sweet  Alary. 
The  wee  pet  has  made  out  the  journey  well,  and  is  here  a 
most  bright  sunbeam.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  see  that  we 
have  not  had  an  acquaintance  to  make,  but  that  between 
photographs  and  talk  about  us,  she  has  felt  as  knowing  us 
all  the  time  since  she  was  here  twelve  months  ago.  She  has 
developed  very  much  and  very  delightfully. 

We  had  much  pleasure  in  our  dear  friend  jMr.  Duncan's 
week  with  us.  He  was  interested  in  my  manuscript,  and 
hopes  I  may  be  able  to  go  through  with  it.  I  have  just  begun 
again — a  last  attempt.  If  I  am  not  spared  to  reach  the  other 
side,  I  may  at  least  leave  something  recorded  of  my  thinking 
for  you  and  the  rest. 

Our  mail  letters  from  each  of  the  boys  are  very  pleasant, 
keeping  us  much  up  with  the  course  of  life  with  them.  My 
beloved  Mr.  Erskine  used  in  later  years  to  dwell  on  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  gift  of  relations,  which  he  thought  had  at 
one  time  been  undervalued  among  us  through  dwelling  too 
exclusively  in  the  new  relationship  which  our  Lord  so  com- 
mends, when  asking,  "  Who  is  my  mother,  and  who  are  my 
brethren  ?  "  and  Himself  answering,  "  Whosoever  doeth  the 
will  of  my  Father  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and 
sister,  and  mother."  In  his  case,  the  original  bond  and  the 
new  bond  were  so  coincident,  that  he  would  have  felt  it  diffi- 
cult to  distinguish  between  their  practical  values,  the  latter 
exalting  what  it  was  added  to. 

To  the  Same. 

AcHNASHiE,  i6th  February,  1872. 

I  am  feeling  much  anxiety  about  my  beloved  sister,  whose 
many  trying  partings  have,  I  think,  their  climax  in  this  part- 


330  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

ing  with  James.  But  I  know  the  trial  of  faith,  where  faith  is 
real,  only  deepens  the  conviction  that  we  may  rest  peacefully 
in  God's  choice  for  us ;  while  we  could  not  in  our  own. 

We  do  not  find  it  easy  to  suspend  our  actual  desire  on 
our  God's  yet  unmanifested  will,  while  praying  for  what  we 
can  rightly  desire  only  conditionally.  This  combination  we 
see  perfect  in  our  Lord's  prayer,  "  If  it  be  possible  let  this 
cup  pass  from  me ;  nevertheless,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou 
wilt."  I  know  that  many  regard  a  conditional  element  in 
prayer  as  incompatible  with  real  faith  in  prayer ;  and  there 
is  a  danger  of  hiding  from  ourselves  our  lack  of  faith  in  say- 
ing, "  If  thou  wilt."  But  I  could  not,  as  to  many  things  for 
which  I  jDray,  pray  unconditionally ;  while  yet  in  praying  I 
am  not  simply,  as  it  were,  preparing  myself  to  welcome  some- 
thing which  would  have  come  to  me  at  all  events.  "  Be  careful 
for  nothing ;  but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication, 
with  thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God." 
Requests  with  prayer  and  supplication  must  be  definite  choos- 
ings,  and  positive  desires.  What  we  are  to  "  make  known 
to  God"  are  our  i-equests.  "  Thanksgiving"  implies  the  faith 
that  our  requests  are  graciously  considered  and  granted,  if 
that  is  best  for  us  ;  which  condition  they  include.  Is  this 
equivalent  to  expecting  what  was  to  have  been  at  all  events? 
If  so,  then  quiet  waiting  upon  the  evolving  of  what  is  to  be, 
would  be  a  more  intelligent  and  natural  attitude  than  prayer 
and  supplication.  However  much  I  come  short  in  acting 
up  to  my  faith,  in  the  free  communion  of  my  heart  with  my 
God  as  to  all  to  which  I  permit  a  place  in  my  heart,  my 
faith  is  that  my  desires,  cherished  in  the  light  of  God, 
ought  to  ascend  to  God  as  requests,  with  the  confidence  that 
they  will  have  a  weight  with  Him  in  accordance  with  that 
constitution  of  the  kingdom  of  God  of  which  the  ordinance 
of  prayer  is  a  part.  Is  it  not  as  one  living  in  the  light  of 
this  kingdom  of  God,  and  himself  enjoying  through  prayer 
what  he  promises  to  prayer,  that  the  apostle  adds,  "and  the 


1871-72.   DIFFICULTIES  REGARDING  PRAYER.    331 

peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  shall  keep 
your  hearts  and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus  "  ?  This  promise 
is  manifestly  the  promise  of  a  participation  in  that  peace 
which  the  Lord  spoke  of  to  the  disciples  as  His  "  own 
peace;"  and  which  they  must  have  learned  to  connect  with 
His  hfe  of  prayer. 

I  believe  that  one  source  of  the  difficulties  in  having  faith 
in  God  as  the  "  hearer  and  answerer  of  prayer,"  is  the  vague 
conception  of  some  divine  end  which  all  that  takes  place  is 
subserving — hid  from  us,  but  the  final  cause  of  all  that  takes 
place — the  reason  in  the  divine  mind  why  it  takes  place ;  nay, 
why  it  must  take  place,  and  contribute  its  part  to  the  great 
result,  which  otherwise  would  fail.  This  is  fatalism,  or  opti- 
mism ;  that  is,  a  fixedness  in  all  things  contemplated  as  sim- 
ply a  necessity,  or  as  at  best  a  good  necessity  ; — a  necessity 
assumed  to  be  good  because  God  is  believed  to  be  good ; 
but  the  manner  of  the  goodness  remaining  hid,  because  the 
end,  which  will  justify  its  claim  to  be  goodness,  is  hid  : 
assumed  to  be  wise  also,  because  God  is  wise ;  but  the 
manner  of  the  wisdom  remaining  in  like  manner  hid, 
because  the  relation  of  the  divinely-chosen  means  to 
the  divinely-determined  end  is  hid.  The  ordinance  of 
prayer  disallows  this  conception.  It  belongs  to  that  moral 
and  spiritual  constitution  of  things  which,  as  to  all  that 
concerns  man,  implies  a  moral  and  spiritual  end  on  the 
part  of  God  intelligible  to  man,  and  moral  and  spiritual  means 
in  relation  to  that  end  of  which  man  can  see  the  wisdom.  So 
that  here  an  answer  in  light  to  the  question,  "  Why  is  this  so 
or  so  ?"  must  be  a  moral  and  spiritual  answer  in  which  we  can 
give  glory  to  God.  The  ordinance  of  prayer  is  thus  to  be 
understood  and  appreciated.  He  whom  it  became,  in  bring- 
ing sons  to  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  per- 
fect through  sufferings  (Heb.  ii.  10),  has  given /raj/^r  and  the 
answer  of  prayer  a  place  both  in  these  sufferings,  and  in  our 
participation  in  them  in  being  saved  through  them.     Is  not 


332 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 


''asking  and  receiving"'  the  brief  statement  of  the  inner  life 
of  Christ  in  the  work  of  redemption  ?  Nothing  can  be  fur- 
ther removed  from  the  conception  we  receive  of  our  Lord's 
mind  in  relation  to  the  Father  than  the  conception  of  a 
fatalism  or  optimism  waiting  on  the  evolution  of  a  fixed  course 
of  things  in  passive  acquiescence.  Not  a  will  of  God  which 
is  a  fate  ever  necessarily  fulfilling  itself  in  everything  alike 
that  takes  place,  but  a  will  of  God  which  is  a  moral  will, 
fulfilled  in  goodness,  resisted  and  gainsaid  in  evil,  is  seen 
ever  present  before  His  mind  who  came  to  do  the  will  of 
God,  "  having  his  law  hid  in  his  heart ;" — a  will,  the  faith  of 
which  took  first  the  form  of  prayer,  then  of  word  and  deed 
in  sequel  to  prayer. 

Monday,  19th  February,  1872. 

My  beloved  Donald, — These  sheets  were  written  at  in- 
tervals. I  have  read  them  over,  and  though  I  can  anticipate 
questions  suggesting  themselves  as  you  read  which  I  have 
not  noticed,  I  trust  the  answers  will  also  suggest  themselves. 
We  had  a  good  sermon  from  Robert  yesterday,  from  the 
words,  "  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  hid  those  things  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed  them  to  babes." — Your 
loving  father, 

J.  M'L.  Campbell. 


The  above  was  the  last  letter  which  my  father  wrote  to 
me.  After  finishing  it  he  said  to  Mrs.  Campbell,  "I  have 
written  a  long  letter  to  my  boy ;  it  must  do  for  him  for  a  long 
time."  This  was  on  Monday,  19th  February.  That  after- 
noon he  went  to  see  his  old  friend,  Mrs.  Robertson,  Strouel 
Lodge,  who  was  dying ;  and  he  prayed  with  her.  On  his 
way  back  with  Mrs.  Campbell  he  stopped  in  the  garden, 
to  superintend  the  planting  of  some  new  roses,  whose 
flowers  he  was  not  to  enjoy. 


1871-72.  LAST  WORDS.  333 

Next  day  he  was  all  the  morning  at  his  desk,  and  he  wrote 
with  more  than  usual  ease  and  fluency.  The  passage  which 
he  then  composed  forms  the  last  four  pages  of  I\e/niniscences 
and  Reflcciioiis ;  and  it  shows  that  his  mind  was  clear  and 
vigorous  to  the  last.  The  subject  was  a  difficult  one — "the 
relation  between  our  thoughts  of  God  and  righteousness." 
Some  days  before,  he  had  been  unable  to  express  his 
thoughts  satisfactorily ;  but  now  he  wrote  without  difficulty. 
The  passage  ends  with  these  last  words :  "  The  relation  of 
faith  to  righteousness,  then,  is  the  relation  of  our  response 
to  God,  to  God's  voice  to  us.  It  is  thus  a  reflection  of  the 
divine  righteousness.  A  reflection  which  is  one  with  what  it 
reflects  is  righteousness — a  living  reflection  from  and  in 
the  whole  man — -thought  and  will,  intellect  and  spirit."  In 
the  evening  he  was  well  and  cheerful  ;  and  finding  his  sight 
better  than  it  had  been  for  some  time,  he  read  aloud  from 
Lockhart's  Zz)^  0/  Scott :  pausing  once  to  express  his  ad- 
miration of  Scott's  knowledge  of  human  nature.  At  family 
worship  his  prayer  seemed  even  more  than  usually  beautiful 
and  solemn. 

That  night,  or  rather  verj-  early  next  morning,  he  was 
taken  ill.  A  few  particulars  of  his  brief  illness  may  best  be 
given  in  the  words  of  her  who  nursed  him  through  it  all. 
"  The  morning  he  was  taken  ill "  (Mrs.  Campbell  wrote  two 
months  after)  "  before  the  doctor  came,  he  said  that  there 
was  something  in  this  pain  that  he  never  felt  before  :  '  God 
will  give  me  strength  to  bear  what  He  sees  good  for  me  ;  and 
then,  what  a  rest  to  know  that  I  am  in  my  Father's  hands  : 
He  knoweth  my  frame.'  "  Although  he  suffered  much,  his 
mind  continued  clear  during  the  first  two  days.  On  Thurs- 
day Mrs.  Campbell  heard  him  repeating  the  words,  from  the 
first  question  of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  "  Man's  chief  end  is 
to  glorify  God,  and  to  enjoy  Him  for  ever."  "  His  mind 
(she  continues)  was  very  full  of  this  ;  and  once  he  said  to 
me,  '  I  never  saw  so  much  meaning  in  these  words  before.' 


334  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

His  whole  heart  was  full  of  these  thoughts  ;  and  he  felt  what 
a  blessing  it  was  that  these  words  were  taught  to  all  the 
children  in  Scotland  :  he  added,  '  but  how  few  do  know 
them ' ;  and  then  he  spoke  of  the  great  darkness  that  was 
covering  the  land,  and  many  other  words  that  I  cannot  now 
write."  On  Friday  his  mind  was  not  clear;  but  he  was 
heard  slowly  repeating  to  himself  the  first  of  the  five  hymns 
which  are  printed  at  the  end  of  all  Scotch  Bibles,  beginning 
with  the  words — 

"  When  all  thy  mercies,  O  my  God  ! 
My  rising  soul  surveys, 
Transported  with  the  view,  I  'm  lost 
In  wonder,  love,  and  praise." 

On  Monday  morning  his  eldest  son  arrived  from  London  ; 
and  he  knew  him  and  addressed  him  by  name  :  but  that  was 
all.  Early  on  Tuesday  morning,  27th  February,  he  was 
released  from  his  sufferings. 

Little  need  be  said  of  his  funeral,  which  was  attended  by 
a  large  company,  including  many  members  of  his  former 
congregation  in  Glasgow,  and  some  of  his  old  Row 
parishioners,  as  well  as  many  ministers  of  the  Scotch 
churches.  The  services  were  conducted  in  Rosneath  Church 
by  Mr.  Story  and  Dr.  Macleod  ;  and  funeral  sermons  were 
afterwards  preached  by  both  these  friends.  Dr.  Macleod's 
sermon  was  published  in  Good  Words  for  May,  1872  ;  and 
it  records  in  glowing  language  his  warm  affection  and  enthu- 
siastic admiration  for  his  "  oldest  and  dearest  friend." 

"Dr.  Campbell,"  he  said,  "was  the  best  man,  without 
exception,  I  have  ever  known.  This  is  my  first,  most  decided, 
and  unqualified  statement.  His  character  was  the  most  per- 
fect embodiment  I  have  ever  seen  of  the  character  of  Jesus 
Christ.     .     .     . 

"  I    never    perceived    in   any    other    such   a    constant 


1871-72.  DR.  STORY'S  SERMON.  335 

sense  of  God's  presence.  This  impression  was  not  neces- 
sarily conveyed  by  anything  he  said,  nor  by  what  is 
called  religious  conversation ;  but  one  felt  as  if  there  was 
another  person,  though  unseen,  always  with  him.  This 
sense  of  God's  presence  was  also  seen  in  the  reverent  awe 
with  which  he  spoke  of  Him  or  uttered  His  name,  and  in 
the  solemn  manner  also  in  which  he  read  the  Scriptures. 
.  .  .  To  him  the  written  word  presented  to  the  outer  eye 
or  ear  what  was  in  harmony  with  all  he  saw  or  heard  of  God 
as  seen  by  the  inner  eye,  or  heard  by  the  inner  ear  of  the 
spirit,  as  taught  of  God.  More  touching  still  were  his 
prayers.  These  were,  indeed,  an  opening  up  of  his  whole 
heart  in  holy  awe  and  loving  confidence  in  God,  and  in 
righteous  sympathy  with  His  will."  ^ 

Dr,  Story's  sermon  was  also  published,  but  is  now  out  of 
print.  I  am  permitted  to  quote  from  it  the  following  passage, 
referring  to  the  quiet  evening  of  Dr.  Campbell's  life,  which  he 
spent  in  the  parish  of  Rosneath  : — 

"  Though  to  those  who  mourn  him  there  is  '  strong  con- 
solation '  in  the  knowledge  of  his  testimony  borne,  and  of 
his  works  that  follow  him,  it  is  difficult  for  them  as  yet  to 
admit  any  thought  but  this — that  he  is  gone.  We  may  read 
and  ponder  the  words  he  wrote  ;  but  we  can  hear  his  voice 
no  more,  in  that  converse  which  was  always  so  rich  in  sug- 
gestive thought,  in  human  kindliness,  and  in  Christlike 
charity.  We  can  witness  no  more  that  life,  which,  to  all  who 
knew  the  manner  of  it,  was  the  likest  they  could  picture  to 
that  of  the  Divine  Example.  Yet  we  can  think  gratefully  of 
that  calm  autumn  of  his  days  which  he  came  to  spend  amongst 
us  here.  He  had  fought  a  good  fight,  he  had  finished  his 
course,  he  had  kept  the  faith ;  and  he  found  here,  close  to 
the  unforgotten  scenes  of  his  early  ministry  and  early  troubles, 
the  haven  of  his  repose.  No  bitterness  had  ever  crossed  his 
^  Good  Words  for  1872,  pages  353,  354. 


336  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

thoughts  of  these  ;  but  now  his  memory  of  them  was  full  of 
content  and  peace.  '  These  things,'  he  said,  '  are  in  the 
hands  of  God,  and  what  has  been  is  best.' 

"  As  the  end,  which  none  foresaw,  was  drawing  nearer, 
friends  from  far  and  near  gathered  round  him  to  do  him 
honour ;  to  express  at  last,  in  enduring  form,  the  gratitude 
and  reverence  and  affection,  that  had  grown  through  so 
many  years.  The  world  knew  his  name  and  acknowledged 
his  worth.  Peace  and  prosperity  were  in  his  home.  Every 
compensation  for  injustice  and  wrong  that  this  life  could  give 
had  been  given.  The  Lord  had  brought  forth  '  his  righteous- 
ness as  the  light,  and  his  judgment  as  the  noon-day.' 

"  And  now  he  rests  in  a  spot  dear  to  his  own  heart,  and 
closely  linked  with  his  memory.  You  can  from  his  grave 
see,  a  mile  away,  the  hills  of  his  old  parish.  A  few  steps 
from  him,  lie  the  ashes  of  the  friend  who  shared  all  his 
counsels  and  stood  by  him  in  his  trials,  long  ago.  Within 
the  now  broken  walls,  which  cast  their  shadow  on  his  resting- 
place,  he  often  preached  the  word  of  life  to  that  friend's  con- 
gregation, the  fathers  and  kindred  of  many  here. 

"  May  he  rest  in  peace  until  the  resurrection  of  the  just : 
and  may  we,  brethren,  have  grace  to  be  followers,  even  afar 
oft",  of  such  as  he  I  As  one  after  another  is  taken  from  us, 
may  we  be  led,  ever  more  and  more,  to  live  as  strangers  and 
pilgrims  on  the  earth,  to  walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight,  and 
to  desire  more  earnestly  the  full  revelation  of  that  divine  and 
eternal  kingdom,  wherein  all  who  have  loved  the  Lord  and 
served  Him  heartily  shall  meet  in  the  presence  of  their 
Father ;  to  whom  be  all  glory  in  the  church,  throughout  all 
ages.     Amen." 

Of  the  many  letters  of  sympathy  which  were  received  after 
his  death  I  will  quote  only  one.  Professor  Lushington 
wrote  : 

"Since  I  had  the  privilege  of  first  knowing  your  father, 


1S71-72.  CHARACTERISTICS.  337 

now  many  years  have  past;  and  wherever  I  have  met  him  I 
felt  deeply  the  presence  of  a  heavenly  nature  refined  and 
sublimed  by  dwelling  amid  contemplation  of  high  truths  :  a 
spirit  open-eyed  and  fearless,  and  withal  humbly  reverent  and 
loving.  So  pure  and  holy  a  life  when  removed  from  our 
view  is  not  wholly  lost  to  us  even  here  ;  it  leaves  a  light  that 
may  guide  us  in  the  way  we  walk.  I  trust  that  there  are 
many  among  younger  men  whom  his  words  and  example 
may  enlighten  and  strengthen,  and  inspire  with  the  love  of 
truth  and  goodness. 

"  Nearly  a  year  since,  I  last  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
him,  when  there  was  a  topic  of  special  interest  to  both  of  us  : 
our  common  deep  regard  and  affection  for  Mr.  Erskine  of 
Linlathen,  then  lately  deceased — of  whom  he  spoke  with 
feeling  not  to  be  forgotten.  No  doubt  you  know  his  genuine 
reverence  for  a  character  so  akin  to  his  own." 

Many  notices  of  Dr.  Campbell's  death  appeared  in  the 
newspapers ;  and  the  following  passage  is  taken  from  the 
Glasgow  Herald  of  February  28th,  1872  : 

"  Dr.  Campbell  was  one  of  the  most  just  of  men,  with  a 
justice  that  could  only  come  of  charity.  As  in  his  writings- 
his  statements  of  the  views  he  controverted  were  fair,  and 
even  more  than  fair,  so  in  the  more  difficult  task  of  judging 
of  the  character  of  personal  opponents — enemies  he  could 
scarcely  be  said  to  have — he  Avas  absolutely  unbiassed  by 
personal  feeling.  He  seemed,  indeed,  sometimes  to  go  to 
the  extreme  of  inventing  good  motives  for  those  who  had 
them  not.  If  it  was  possible  to  ascribe  a  good  motive,  he 
never  ascribed  a  bad  one.  Yet  this  did  not  arise  from  any 
lack  of  moral  force  of  intensity  of  feeling,  but  partly  from  the 
strict  self-repression  of  a  mind  determined  to  be  just,  and 
still  more  from  the  charity  of  one  who  believed  in  men 
because  he  loved  them,  and  to  whom  Christian  love  was  a 
love,  not  merely  of  all  men  in  general,  but  of  every  man  in 
particular. 

VOL.    II.  Y 


338  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

"  Of  the  incidents  of  Dr.  Campbell's  life  we  shall  not  here 
attempt  to  speak.  At  present  it  is  enough  to  say,  that  the 
struggles  and  controversies  of  the  earlier  part  of  his  career 
left  no  bitterness  in  his  o\vn  heart,  and  we  believe  that  they 
left  little  or  none  in  the  hearts  of  others.  He  lived  to  see  a 
gradual  and  marked  change  in  religious  thought,  which  he 
himself  had  greatly  contributed  to  produce ;  and  this  was 
strikingly  evinced  by  the  fact  that  only  a  few  months  ago  an 
address  was  presented  to  him,  along  with  a  token  of  their 
respect  and  admiration,  by  upwards  of  a  hundred  of  the 
leading  clergymen  and  laymen  of  various  churches,  and  that 
on  that  occasion  the  Moderator  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
expressed  his  conviction  that  the  expulsion  of  Dr.  Campbell 
from  the  church  was  an  event  deplored  by  many  of  its  truest 
friends,  and  one  which  could  not  occur  at  the  present  day. 
In  closing  this  notice,  we  may  add  that  Dr.  Campbell's  last 
days  were  spent  near  the  scene  of  his  early  labours,  sur- 
rounded by  the  love  and  reverence  of  his  family  and  of 
many  friends,  in  whose  hearts  his  memory  will  never  die." 

In  accordance  with  the  intention  expressed  at  the  outset, 
no  attempt  has  been  made  in  these  pages  to  describe  Dr. 
Campbell's  character,  or  to  estimate  his  position  as  a  theo- 
logical writer.  Such  an  attempt  seemed  forbidden  to  one 
standing  in  so  intimate  a  relation  to  the  subject  of  the  book. 
For  this  reason  I  am  the  more  glad  to  be  able  to  supplement 
those  brief  tributes  to  my  father  which  have  just  been  quoted 
by  a  letter  which  Principal  Shairp  has  most  kindly  written 
to  me,  recording  his  recollections  of  my  father,  and  of  con- 
versations with  him  on  subjects  of  the  deepest  interest. 

My  dear  Mr.  Campbell, — From  early  days  in  our  family 
the  name  of  Mr.  Campbell  of  the  Row  was  familiar.  At  that 
time,  the  fourth  decade  of  this  century,  "  The  Row  Heresy," 
as  it  was  then  called,  was  everywhere  spoken  against.     But 


1871-72.        PRINCIPAL  SHAIRPS  LETTER.  339 

through  some  members  of  the  Stirling  of  Kippendavie  family 
who  used  to  visit  in  our  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  who 
were  devoted  to  your  father  and  his  teaching,  sermons  and 
addresses  by  him  and  his  friends  found  their  way  into  our 
household.  They  were  read  by  some  and  produced  their 
own  impression ;  and  that  was  that,  however  they  might  be 
discountenanced  by  the  authorized  teachers  of  the  day,  they 
contained  something  more  spiritual  and  more  appealing  to 
the  spirit,  than  was  at  all  common  at  that  time.  One 
small  book  that  was  especially  valued  was  '  Fragments 
of  Exposition,'  which  contained  notes  taken  of  discourses 
delivered  by  your  father  after  he  left  the  Church  of  Scot- 
lapd.  I  well  remember  about  the  years  1845  and  1846, 
at  Oxford,  after  having  heard  and  read  a  good  many 
of  Mr.  Newman's  sermons,  and  being  much  impressed  by 
them,  turning  to  this  small  book  of  your  father's  discourses  • 
Though  they  came  from  a  different  quarter  of  the  doctrinal 
heavens,  and  had  no  magic  in  their  language  as  Newman's 
have,  yet  they  seemed  as  full  of  spirituality,  and  that  perhaps 
more  simple  and  direct.  They  seemed  equally  removed 
from  the  old  orthodoxy  of  Scotland,  and  from  the  spiri- 
tual teaching  of  the  best  Oxford  men,  confined  as  that  was 
within  a  sacerdotal  fence.  Perhaps  I  do  not  rightly  ex- 
press it,  but  I  remember  very  well  how  soothingly  many  of 
his  thoughts  fell  on  me  during  those  years. 

Again,  when  I  used  to  visit  Norman  Macleod  at  Dalkeith 
during  the  years  from  1843  till  1850  he  always  talked  much 
of  your  father,  and  of  the  refreshment  of  spirit  he  found  in 
converse  with  him.  For  during  those  years  Norman  was 
very  isolated  and  lonely  in  his  church  relations.  He  groaned 
in  spirit  over  the  deadness  and  want  of  sympathy  of  those 
who  had  remained  within  the  Establishment,  and  of  course 
he  could  not  find  sympathy  in  those  who  had  left  it.  Your 
father's  visits  to  him  from  time  to  time  were  then  his  chief 
human  support. 


340 


MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 


It  was  when  Norman  went  to  the  Barony  Church, 
Glasgow,  that,  on  visits  to  him,  I  first  met  your  father.  All 
that  I  saw  of  him  and  heard  him  say,  during  those  inter- 
views, was  in  full  harmony  with  what  I  had  been  led  to 
expect.  But  as  there  were  always  three  of  us  present  at 
those  times,  I  had  no  opportunity  of  conversing  with  him 
alone.  After  I  came  to  St.  Andrews  and  began  to  visit  the 
late  Mr.  Erskine  at  Linlathen,  and  in  Edinburgh,  he  too 
spoke  even  more  of  Mr.  Campbell  than  Norman  Macleod 
had  done.  Often  he  would  revert  to  the  time  of  their  first 
acquaintance,  and  tell  me  about  their  experiences  then. 

In  one  visit  to  Mr.  Erskine  at  i6  Charlotte  Square  I  had 
a  quiet  hour  of  talk  with  your  father  on  Sunday,  March  ii, 
i860.  Of  this  conversation,  I  made  the  following  notes 
shortly  after  : — • 

AVith  regard  to  the  realizing  a  continual  sense  of  God's 
Fatherhood  and  immediate  presence,  which  he  so  urged  as 
the  great  practical  support  for  right  living  and  right  doing, 
he  was  asked  : 

Is  not  this  something  which  a  man  may  realize  in  his 
chamber,  on  his  knees,  but  can  he  bear  it  with  him  into  the 
busy  world?  Will  this  sense  not  be  scared  away  by  the 
noise  of  the  market  and  the  exchange  ? 

He  said,  no  doubt  it  is  a  narrow  way  to  walk  in,  this.  To 
do  all  our  business  actively,  and  yet  while  doing  it  to  feel 
that  it  is  the  business  our  Father  has  given  us  to  do,  and  to 
do  it  with  the  present  sense  that  we  are  doing  it  for  Him, 
and  in  His  immediate  presence.  But  this  once  believed  in, 
and  taken  with  us  into  our  work,  instead  of  being  a  hin- 
drance, would  enable  us  to  do  it  better  than  we  could  do 
without  such  a  sense  of  His  presence.  It  would  make  us 
calm,  it  would  make  us  see  more  clearly  all  the  bearings  of 
what  we  were  doing.  It  would  take  away  the  self-light  which 
obscures,  and  give  us  instead  God's  light  wherein  we  see 
clearly.     We  must  not  however  seek  too  high  a  link  between 


1871-72.        PRINCIPAL  SHAIRFS  LETTER.  341 

our  particular  work  and  God's  great  purposes  on  earth.  A 
man  may  have  to  drudge  at  a  mechanical  routine  day  after 
day,  week  after  week.  His  heart  may  at  times  sink  within 
him,  not  seeing  any  bearing  this  routine  has  on  the  coming 
of  God's  kingdom.  But  he  ought  not  to  puzzle  himself  with 
trying  to  find  the  link.  Enough  if  it  is  our  Father's  will  for 
him.  Let  him  do  it  faithfully,  in  the  full  sense  that  it  is 
what  God  has  given  him  to  do,  and  he  need  not  seek  to 
see  more. 

Again  in  answer  to  a  question,  how  is  a  man  to  know 
for  himself,  or  to  satisfy  another,  that  what  he  calls  knowing 
God,  meeting  with  God,  is  not  a  delusion  of  his  own  feel- 
ings, how  is  he  to  be  sure  that  he  has  ever  got  beyond  the 
circle  of  his  own  subjectivity  ? — he  first  quoted  the  text, 
"  He  that  cometh  unto  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and 
that  He  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him." 
And  then  he  went  on  to  say  that  Faith  is  itself  to  him  who 
has  it  its  own  evidence,  and  cannot  be  proved  to  be  true 
by  any  extrinsic  evidence.  He  would  have  said,  I  suppose, 
to  him  who  doubts  whether  God  can  indeed  be  met,  Try 
it  honestly,  and  you  shall  know.  He  said,  further,  that 
in  communion  with  God  we  must  not  look  for  any  sign, 
or  strong  vivid  impressions  borne  in  upon  the  feelings,  but 
must  be  contented  with  the  quiet  outgoings  of  faith,  in  the 
certainty  it  brings  that  it  has  an  object  which  is  real.  More 
than  this  may  be,  often  is,  given,  but  this  more  is  not 
necessary  to  a  true  faith. 

He  mentioned  that  once  in  recent  years,  after  the  death 
of  his  brother,  when  his  own  whole  body  and  mind  were 
very  much  shattered,  he  found  all  the  scaffolding  of  thoughts 
and  arguments,  which  he  had  laboriously  built  up,  fall  away, 
and  there  was  no  help  in  them.  What  he  might  have 
offered  to  others  at  a  like  time,  were  then  wholly  unavailing 
for  himself.  One  thing  only  was  helpful,  (and  this,  he  said, 
was  a  precious  lesson  to  him,)  he  had  to  begin  at  the  old 


342  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

beginning — he  had  to  be  just  Hke  a  child,  to  believe,  to 
put  forth  simple  faith,  where  he  could  see  nothing,  to 
roll  himself  over  upon  God.  And  this,  I  think  he  said, 
brought  comfort  Avhen  nothing  else  did. 

At  another  time,  while  speaking  on  the  subject,  he  said 
that  he  did  not  think  the  power  of  self-introspection,  or 
the  power  of  analysis,  or  the  mental  refinement  which 
high  education  gives,  were  any  helps  to  realizing  God — 
rather  perhaps  hindrances. 

He  then  spoke  of  a  criticism  of  his  own  book  on  the 
Atonement  which  had  recently  appeared  in  the  National 
Revieiv.  That  criticism  objected,  among  other  things,  that 
Mr.  Campbell's  view  presupposed  a  realistic  theory  of 
Christ  as  containing  all  humanity  in  Himself.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell did  not  feel  this  to  be  a  weighty  objection.  For  if 
we  believe  that  all  men  live  and  have  their  being  in  God, 
and  yet  that  their  separate  individuality  remains  intact,  it 
is  not  more  difficult  to  beheve  that  Christ  has  in  Himself 
all  humanity  as  its  Root,  and  its  Head,  without  interfering 
with  our  separate  and  distinct  individuality.  Nor  did  he 
feel  the  force  of  another  objection  to  his  book  in  the  same 
criticism, — that  Christ  could  not  repent,  because  repentance 
implies  a  personal  sense  of  guilt.  It  is  not,  as  the  Reviewer 
says,  that  Christ's  repentance  is  made  by  Mr.  Campbell 
to  be  the  substitute  for  our  repentance.  His  is  not  the 
substitute  for  ours,  but  the  fountain  of  it.  In  Him,  and 
in  the  light  which  He  manifests  of  the  Father's  character, 
and  of  our  sin,  only  can  we  truly  repent.  "  By  the  which 
will  we  are  sanctified  through  the  offering  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  once  for  all."  It  is  the  will  of  the  Father,  which 
Jesus  wholly  met  and  fulfilled,  which  entering  into  a  man, 
and  acquiesced  in  by  him,  made  his  own,  really  sanctifies 
him.  But  it  can  only  enter  into  us,  Mr.  Campbell  said, 
in  and  through  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  Jesus.  "  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death."     This  is  the  Father's  eternal  irre- 


1871-72.        PRINCIPAL  SHAIRP'S  LETTER.  343 

versible  way  of  looking  at  sin.     He  does  not  change  this 
will.      But  Christ  meets  this  will,  says,  '  Thou  art  righteous, 

0  Father,  in  thus  judging  sin ;   and  I  accept  Thy  judg- 
ment of  it ;  and  meet  it.     I  in  my  humanity  say  Amen  to  J 
Thy  judgment  of  sin.' 

Then  he  added,  those  who  like  Maurice  regard  Christ's 
work  as  only  taking  away  our  alienation,  by  making  us  see 
the  Father's  eternal  good-will  toward  us,  as  this  only  and 
no  more,  they  take  no  account  of  the  sense  of  guilt  in 
man.  According  to  their  view,  there  is  nothing  real  in 
the  nature  of  things  answering  to  this  sense  of  guilt.  The 
sense  of  guilt  becomes  a  mistake  which  further  knowledge 
removes.     All  sin  is  thus  reduced  to  ignorance. 

At  another  time,  when  speaking  of  Christ  as  the  Head  • 
of  humanity,    I   understood   your   father   to    say   that    he 
thought  it  one  of  Mr.  Maurice's  great  dangers  to  carry  this 
so  far,  as  to  absorb  in  it  all  sense  of  our  own  individuality. 

Lastly,  recurring  again  to  his  book  and  to  the  objection 
that  it  makes  the  Fatherly  character  overpower  that  of  the 
Judge,  he  said  that  God  could  not  be  an  all-wise  and  right- 
eous Father,  if  He  did  not  judge.  But  he  thought  the 
Father  came  first  in  order  of  nature,  just  as  a  child  loves  its 
parent  first,  without  knowing  why  or  how.  The  Gospel  is 
before  the  law,  as  St.  Paul  shows,  though  the  law  comes  in 
and  has  its  place.  As  to  Mr.  Frskine's  saying,  "  He  judges 
only  in  order  to  save,  to  bring  the  soul  to  know  its  Father," 
he  thought  Mr.  Erskine  looked  so  entirely  to  the  remoter 
end  that  he  forgot  the  nearer.  Mr.  Campbell  thought  that  ~ 
God  punishes,  no  doubt,  to  save  and  bring  to  the  truth;  but 
He  punishes  also  directly  and  immediately  to  testify  His 
displeasure  at  sin. 

This  is  the  main  part  of  what  I  afterwards  noted  down  of 
his  conversation  during  that  hour. 

Of  other  times  when  I  met  and  conversed  with  your  father 

1  have  kept  no  record,  and  therefore'  cannot  recall  them 


344  MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

now.  But  of  two  days'  visit  he  paid  me  at  St.  Andrews  in 
July,  1868,  I  have  a  very  distinct  remembrance  ;  though  I 
took  no  notes  of  what  he  then  said.  As  we  walked  about 
during  these  t^vo  days,  he  talked  of  many  things  besides 
theology — indeed  he  did  not  enlarge  on  this  subject,  unless 
when  questioned,  and  this  I  did  not  then  do.  I  remember 
his  speaking  of  St.  Columba  with  great  interest,  and  quoting 
a  Gaelic  verse  said  to  be  by  him.  I  put  it  down  at  the  time 
and  have  it  somewhere.  What  especially  struck  me  of  his 
conversation  at  that  time  was  the  extent  to  which  during 
recent  years  he  seemed  to  have  opened  his  mind  to  subjects 
of  general  literature  and  philosophy.  In  all  his  remarks  on 
these  there  was  a  weight  and  originality  one  seldom  meets 
with,  as  of  one  who  knew  nothing  of  the  comnion  and 
wearisome  hearsays  that  pass  current  among  the  so-called 
educated,  but  as  if  everj'thing  he  uttered  had  passed  through 
the  strainers  of  his  own  thought,  and  came  thence  pure  and 
direct.  Whatever  he  said  bore  the  mint-mark  of  his  own 
veracity ;  and  commended  itself  as  true, — true  that  is,  not 
only  as  regarded  him,  but  true  in  itself.  All  his  judgments 
of  things  and  of  men,  while  they  betokened  that  subtle  and 
reflective  analysis  which  belonged  to  him,  had  a  scrupulous 
justness  and  exactness.  Penetrating  inwardness  there  was, 
and  watchful  conscientiousness  of  thought,  but  at  the  same 
time  eminent  sanity  of  judgment.  Above  all,  you  felt  that 
all  his  thoughts  and  feelings  breathed  in  an  atmosphere  of 
perfect  charity. 

One  or  two  theological  items  I  can  still  recall.  Shortly 
before  he  left  me,  in  speaking  of  his  own  book,  he  dwelt  on 
the  importance  of  that  part  of  it  which  dwells  on  the  retro- 
spective aspect  of  the  atonement.  This  aspect,  he  said,  was 
in  his  view  essential  to  the  full  truth  of  the  doctrine.  He 
spoke  with  regret  of  the  fact  that  many  who  had  sympathized 
so  far  with  his  view  had  dropt  this  aspect  out  of  sight,  and 
had  taken  up  solely  what  he  says  of  the  prospective  aspect 


1871-72.        PRINCIPAL  SIIAIRP'S  LETTER.  345 

of  the  atonement.  This  I  understood  him  to  say  was  to 
misrepresent  his  position,  and  to  give  a  quite  inadequate 
view  of  the  great  subject.  Owing  to  this  one-sided  repre- 
sentation of  his  view  it  had  come  to  pass  that  he  had  been 
identified  with  Maurice,  which,  if  his  book  were  fairly  inter- 
preted, he  never  could  be.  I  inquired  how  far  he  agreed  with 
the  view  which  Mr.  Erskine  took  of  the  relation  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son — the  view  which  Mr.  Erskine  afterwards 
set  forth  in  his  last  work,  The  Spiritual  Order.  As  far  as  I 
now  remember  he  liked  what  was  positive  in  the  view,  but 
thought  it  had  a  negative  side  winch  he  could  not  agree 
with.  He  feared  that  in  Mr.  E.rskine's  \-iew  the  personality 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  might  be  lost  sight  of;  and  from  this  he 
shrank. 

These  are  the  chief  things  I  remember  of  that  visit.  You 
will  not  expect  me  to  say  anything  of  the  impression  left 
on  me  by  your  father's  character.  This  only  I  may  say, 
that  like  all  who  were  admitted  to  know  him,  I  felt  then 
as  always  that  he  was  one  of  the  few  men  I  have  met 
who  are  truly  described  by  the  words  'holy'  and  'saintly.' 
A  remark  which  Norman  Macleod  made  about  him  in 
the  funeral  sermon  he  preached  shortly  after  his  death, 
struck  me  at  once  as  exactly  expressing  what  I  had  often 
felt.  It  is  that  whenever  you  conversed  with  him  alone 
he  made  you  feel  that  there  was  a  Third  Being  there  in 
whose  presence  he  distinctly  felt  himself  to  be.  Norman 
wrote  that  sermon  I  know  under  much  pressure  of  spirit, 
and  as  far  as  the  wording  goes,  it  is  but  a  broken  utter- 
ance. But  it  contains  much  of  what  lay  nearest  Norman's 
heart.  In  the  last  night  I  ever  passed  with  him,  he  was 
full  of  your  father,  and  what  he  had  been  to  him.  It  was 
on  the  1 8th  March,  1872,  when  we  travelled  together  by 
the  night  mail  train  to  London.  Norman  had  been  but 
a  week  or  two  before  present  at  your  father's  funeral. 
He  said  in  his  own  characteristic  way  that  he  had  never 


346  .      MEMORIALS.  chap.  xv. 

before  felt  so  thankful  for  the  privilege  of  extempore 
prayer,  as  that,  when  called  on  to  take  part  in  the  cere- 
monial in  Rosneath  Church,  he  could  kneel  down  beside 
the  coffin,  and  pour  out  his  heart  in  thankfulness  to  God 
for  all  that  your  father  had  been  to  him. 

He  then  talked  long  about  him,  and  how  much  he  had 
received  from  him  during  all  those  years  from  boyhood. 
He  said  that  if  he  were  asked  to  write  your  father's  life, 
it  would  probably  be  the  last  thing  he  would  ever  write, 
and  he  would  throw  his  whole  heart  into  it,  and  try  to 
make  it  the  best.  Before  three  months  from  that  time 
were  over,  dear  Norman  was  called  to  go  where  your 
father  had  just  gone. 


INDEX. 


Advent,  Second,  ii.  255-257. 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  i.    157,  213,  230;  ii. 

3,  44,  115,  188. 
Argyll,  Bisliop  of,  ii.  4,  127,  184,  189; 

letters  to,  ii.  99,  149,  153,  154,   155, 

175,  211,  266,  271,  278,  323. 
Arnold,  Dr.,  Life  of,  i.  187,  230. 
Arnold,    Matthew,    ii.    247,   251,    254, 

269,  282. 
Arran,  visits  to,  i.  221,  278,282;  ii.  24- 

26;  views  of,  i.  337;  ii.  95,  96. 
Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  i. 

192;  ii.  32. 
Ascension,  the,  ii.  233. 
Assurance  of  Faith,  doctrine  of,  i.  40, 

50,  51,  63,  69,  70,  84,  109;  ii.  18. 
Atonement,   Universality  of  the,  i.  50, 

54,  69,  83,  203;  ii.  18;  nature  of  the, 

i.    203,    207.      see    "■Nature  of  the 

Atonement.^' 

Bacon,  Fischer's  book  on,  ii.  172. 
Baird,  Principal,  i.  8,  14,  16. 
Baptismal  Service,  ii.  21. 
Belgium,  tour  in,  i.  167,  187-189. 
Bickersteth,  Mr.   Edward,  i.  167,  190; 

correspondence  with,  i.  191-193. 
Brainerd,   Life  of  D. ,  i.  33,  59,  269;  ii. 

315- 
"Broad  Church, "  the,  ii.  132,  148,  165. 
Browning,  ii.  131. 


Bunsen,  Chevalier  (afterwards  Baron)^ 
i.  213;  his  HippolytHS,  i.  244;  at 
Heidelberg,  i.  277;  his  Signs  of  the' 
Times,  i.  287;  his  death,  ii.  10. 

Butler,  Bishop,  ii.  80,  169. 

Caird,  Dr.,  ii.  189,  208,  297. 

Caird,  Professor  Edward,  ii.  12,  158, 
174,  297. 

Calvinism,  reaction  against,  i.  203; 
treatment  of,  in  book  on  the  Atone- 
ment, i.  267,  269,  294. 

Cambridge,  visit  to,  i.  333. 

Campbell,  Rev.  Dr.  Donald,  (father  of 
Mr.  C),  educated  at  Aberdeen,  i.  2; 
his  "  Synod  Sermon,"  i.  28,  263;  his 
speech  in  the  General  Assembly,  i. 
78;  last  letter  to,  i.  165;  his  death,  i. 
166;  letters  referring  to  him,  i.  153, 
168-173,  179,  181,  232,  270J  ii.  66. 

Campbell,  Mr.  D.  (Mr.  C's  brother), 
letter  to,  i.  24;  visit  to  Kilninver  with, 
i.  179;  Mr.  C.  travels  with,  i.  167, 
187,  195-199;  his  death,  i.  306;  refer- 
ences to  him,  i.  388,  309,  324 ;  ii. 
103. 

Campbell,  Lord  John  (afterwards  Duke 
of  Argyll),  i.  56,  157,  195. 

Campbell,  Dr.  George,  i.  2. 
Campbell,   Isabella.   Fernicarry,   i.   35, 

40,  44;  memoir  of,  i.  48,  60,  268. 
Candlish,  Dr.,  i.  273;  ii.  120. 


348 


INDEX. 


Carlyle,    Thomas,    his   History   of  the  |  Edinburgh  University,  Mr.   C.   studies 

French    Revolution,   i.    142,    144;  his 

Life  of  Sterling,  i.  237-240. 
Carlyle,  Mr.,  Counsel  for  IMr.  Campbell, 

i.  77;  letter  to  him  explaining  objec- 
tions to  Irvingite  system,  i.  103,  115. 
Catholicity,  ii.  185,  223. 
Chalmers,   Dr.,  i.   51,   78;  in  Paris,  i. 

150-155;  his  death,  i.  207,  208;  Life 

of,  by  Dr.  Hanna,  i.  218;  other  refer-  ! 

ences  to,  i.  266;  ii.  135,  186,  188. 
Christ  the  Bread  of  Life,    publication 

of,  i.  212,   23 1;  reception  of,  i.  234, 

240;  references  to,  ii.  149,  215;  second 

edition,  ii.  226. 

Christmas   letters,  i.   214;  ii.    "](),   219, 
295. 

Church  of  England,  parties  in,  ii.  164; 

liturgy  of,  i.  320,  331 ;  ii.  220;  future 

of,  ii.  213,  261. 
Clough*  A.  P.,  ii.  27. 

Colenso,   Bishop,  ii.    i,  32,  36,  40,  46, 

48,  49,  60,  64. 
Coleridge,  i.  146;  ii.  67,  174. 
Colosseum,  i.  195,  196. 
Como,  Lake  of,  i.  197-199. 
Comte,  A.,  his  Catechism  of  Positivism, 

ii.  234,  240. 
Confession  of  Faith  of  1560,  i.  80. 

Westminster,  i.  70, 


71,  84;  ii.  34. 
Confirmation,  preparation  for,  i.  328  ; 

ii.  85. 
Consen-atives,  principles  of  the,  i.  143- 

145- 
Conversion,  ii.  97. 

Davies,  Rev.  Llewelyn,  i.  276;  ii.  140. 

Drummond,  Mr.  Henry,  i.  103 ;  inter- 
view with,  i.  119,  125. 

Duncan,  Dr.,  Colloqiiia  Peripatetica, 
ii.  310. 

Dunn,  Mr.  Henry,  ii.  49. 


Ecce  Homo,  i.  119,  137,  144. 
Edinburgh,  visits  to,  i.  43,  134;  ii. 


19, 


at,  i.  7-9,  14. 

Erskine,  Mr. ,  of  Linlathen,  his  Internal 
Evidences,  i.  27 ;  first  acquaintance 
with,  i.  62;  references  to,  i.  61,  107, 
193,  197,  250,  258,  288  ;  ii.  13,  20, 
22,  54,  75>  90,  112,  129,  133,  150, 
177,  X98,  207,  209,  210,  263,  270; 
in  Paris,  i.  148,  155  ;  letters  from,  i. 
163,  172  ;  his  book  on  Election,  i. 
138,  219;  letters  to,  i.  164,  206,  224, 
233>  235,  243,  265,  272,  285,  289, 
293,  296  ;  ii.  5,  7,  27,  47,  51,  92, 
167,  200,  207,  226,  232  ;  his  death, 
ii.  258,  271,  272  ;  memories  of,  ii. 
273i  275  ;  his  writings,  ii.  279,  293, 
317;  his  letters,  ii.  314. 

Essays  and  Reviews,  ii.  i,  2,  8,  10,  12, 

14,  15.  32,  33- 
"  Eternal  Life,"  meaning  of,  i.  256. 

Eucharist,  doctrine  of,  i.  212,  242-250, 
324-327;  ii.  82,  215,  221. 

Faith,  not  a  blind  submission,  i.  104, 
123  ;  how  related  to  knowledge,  ii. 
171  ;  grounds  of,  ii.  262  ;  its  relation 
to  love,  ii.  301. 

Ferrier,  Professor,  i.  290 ;  ii.  1 76. 

Final  Restitution,  doctrine  of,  ii.  198, 

295- 
Froude,   J.   A.,    his   Short  Studies,   ii. 

264. 

Glasgow,  disturbances  in,  in  1820,  i.  5  ; 
Mr.  C.  preaches  in,  i.  47,  55;  cholera 
in,  in  1838,  i.  93  ;  Mr.  C.  settles  in, 
i.  102  ;  close  of  ministry  in,  i.  307, 
317- 

Glasgow  and  Ayr,  Synod  of,  proceed- 
ings in,  i.  69;  Mr.  C.'s  speech  before, 
i.  79,  86;  ii.  2. 

Glasgow  University,  Mr.  C.  a  student 
at,  1811-20,  i.  3-7;  confers  degree  of 
D.D.  on  Mr.  C,  1868,  ii.  189,  207. 

Good  Friday,  observance  of,  ii.  19. 

Good  Tidings  (Sermons,  &c.,  by  Mr. 
C),  i.  62,  71. 

Good  Words,  ii.  50,  334. 


INDEX. 

;    his 


349 


Hamilton,   Sir  William,   i.    9, 
death,  i.  277. 

Hanna,  Dr.,  i.  218;  ii.  13. 

Howson,  Dr.,  ii.  59. 


India,  letters  to,  ii.  103-106,  128,  etc. 

Indian  Mutiny,  i.  262,  299,  301. 

Inspiration,  new  views  of,  ii.  13;  not 
verbal,  ii.  51  ;  theories  of,  ii.  64. 

Inveraray,  Mr.  C.  preaches  at,  i.  91  ; 
visit  to  I.  Castle,  i.  194. 

Irish  Church,  ii.  228,  250. 

Irving,  Edward,  i.  8;  Mr.  C.'s  first 
meeting  with,  i.  51  ;  conversations 
with,  i.  52,  54  ;  preaches  at  Rosneath 
and  Row,  i.  53  ;  his  illness  and  death, 
i.  104,  125-128;  Mr.  C.'s  recollec- 
tions of,  ii.  22,  23,  79. 

Irvingism,  i.  115;  ii.  153. 

Italy,  stay  in,  i.  195,  200 ;  recollections 
of,  i.  204. 

Jardine,  Professor,  i.  3,  15. 

Jordanhill,  the  Smiths  of,  i.  34,  131, 
200,  208  ;  ii.  59. 

Jowett,  Mr.,  his  Epistles  to  the  T/iessa- 
lonians,  &c.,  i.  276,  290,  ii.  15  ;  his 
essay  on  Interpretation  of  Scripture, 
ii.  8  ;  lectures  by,  ii.  142  ;  meetings 
with,  ii.  17,  150;  compared  with 
Maurice,  ii.  305. 

Kant,  ii.  174,  176. 

Keble,  John,  ii.  103,  223,  225. 

Kilninver,  i.  2,  3,  5,  9;  visits  to,  i.  24, 
74,  87,  169,  179,  180,  232,  309,  310; 
recollections  of,  ii.  95,  286. 

Kingsley,  Charles,  i.  226,  243;  ii.  3;  his 
Inaugural  Lecture,  ii.  5. 

Lacordaire,  ii.  223. 

Lee,  Dr.  Robert,  ii.  14. 

Leighton,  Archbishop,  i.  43,  146;  ii. 
224. 


London,  first  visit  to,  i.  9;  Mr.  C. 
preaches  for  Ir\-ing  in,  i.  53;  visit  to, 
in  1852,  i.  213,  242;  last  visit  to,  ii. 
127. 

"  London  Church,"  formation  of,  i. 
103;  Mr.  C.  declines  to  join,  i.  115, 
et  seq.;  "  spiritual  manifestations"  in, 
ii.  153. 

London,  Bishop  of  (Dr.  Tait),  ii.  103, 
146,  147. 

Lushington,  Professor,  ii.  176;  letter 
from,  ii.  336. 

Luther,  ii.  no,  136,  163. 

Lyell,    Sir   Charles,    his   Principles  of 

Geology,  i.  241  ;  on  glaciers,  ii.  67. 

Macleod,  Dr.  Norman  (senior),  friend- 
ship with,  i.  21;  references  to,  i.  23, 
31,  39,  70,  132,  169,  196,  309;  ii.  19; 
his  death,  ii.  42. 

Macleod,  Dr.  Norman,  (junior),  i.  170; 
his  account  of  visit  to  Canada,  i.  191; 
at  Arrochar,  i.  251;  references  to,  i. 
297,  309;  ii.  I,  2,  6,  50,  58,  68,  103, 
III,  113;  he  goes  to  India,  ii.  183; 
reception  in  General  Assembly,  ii. 
210;  Moderator,  ii.  231,  237;  repre- 
sents Testimonial  Committee,  ii.  298, 
310;  letter  to,  ii.  305;  fimeral  sermon 
by,  ii.  334- 

^lacdonald,  George,  ii.  49. 

Manning,  Cardinal,  i.  213,  242;  ii.  99. 

Mansel,  Dean,  his  Bamptoii  Lectures, 
i.  313;  ii.  6;  his  influence,  ii.  14;  his 
Metaphysics,  ii.  177. 

Maurice,  Rev.  F.  D.,  i.  147,  213,  226, 
235,  242  ;  his  Prophets  and  Kings  i. 
250;  at  King's  College,  i.  254;  his 
Doctrine  of  Sacrifice,  i.  273,  274 ; 
Gospel  of  St.  johft,  i.  293;  letters  to, 
i.  330;  ii.  43,  217;  references  to,  ii. 
3,  10,  12,  36,  45,  49,  144,  211, 
305- 

Miracles,  place  of,  ii.  80. 

Morven,  Manse  of  (Fiunary),  visits  to,  i. 
3>  309- 


350 


INDEX. 


Nature  of  the  Atonement,  Mr.  C. 
engaged  in  writing,  i.  260,  265; 
publication  of,  i.  268;  reception  of,  i. 
261,  270,  313;  reviews  of,  i.  273;  ii. 
127,  212;  second  edition  of,  165,  182; 
third,  ii.  269. 

Newman,  Dr.,  i.  192;  ii.  99,  103,  107, 
260;  his  Grammar  of  Assent,  ii.  284, 
286. 

North  British  Review,  ii.  26,  128,  190. 

Oban,  ^Ir.  C.  preaches  at,  i.  88,  91, 
102. 

Ordination  Sei-vice,  ii.  91. 

Oxenham,  H.  N. ,  his  Catholic  Doctrine 
of  the  Atonement,  ii.  137,  221. 

Oxford,  tests  at,  i.  9,  13,  14;  school  of 
thought  at,  ii.  158. 

Oxford,  Bishop  of,  ii.  59! 

Paris,  ilr.  C.'s  residence  in,  i.  130,148- 
155;  society  in,  i.  149. 

Penney,  William,  (afterwards  Lord 
Kinloch),  i.  2,  4,  32,  38,  72;  ii.  20. 

Plumptre,  Professor,  ii.  143. 

Prayer,  seasons  of,  ii.  36;  reality  of,  ii. 

39;  difficulties  regarding,  ii.  140,  217, 

249,  330. 
Prichard,    Rev.    C.    E.,    ii.    190,    238; 

letters  to,  ii.  191,  215;  his  death,  ii. 

248,  250. 

Proceedings  in  ]\Ir.  C.'s  case,  outline  of, 
i.  68,  69;  letters  written  during,  i. 
70-78. 

Prophecy,  interpretation  of,  i.  211. 
Pusey,  Dr.,  his  Eirenicon,  ii,  103,  107, 
113- 

Radicals,  the,  in  1820,  i.  5;  in  1838,  i. 
142-145. 

Rationalism,  ii.  161. 

Reformers,  the,   i.   54;  doctrine  of  the, 

i.  83. 
Eeminiscoices  and  Reflections,  i.  17,  68; 

ii.  300,  329,  zzz- 


j  Renan,  E.,  his    Vie  de  Jesus,  ii.  62,  72- 

i      75- 

Resurrection,  doctrine  of  the,  ii.  123; 
St.  Paul's  faith  in  the,  ii.  281. 

Revelation,  nature  of,  ii.  53. 

Ritualism,  ii.  143,  165. 

Robertson,  Professor  James,  ii.  6. 

Robertson,  Dr.  John,  ii.  78. 

Robertson,  Frederick  W.,  ii.  12  ;  Life 
of,  ii.  62,  108,  109. 

Romans,  Epistle  to  the,  ii.  11. 

Rome,  visit  to,  i.  195-197. 

Rosneath,  i.  21,  35;  Mr.  C.  conducts 
Communion  Services  at,  i.  41,  43  ; 
stay  at,  in  1846,  i.  200  ;  illness  at  R. 
Castle,  ii.  3,  44  ;  Mr.  C.  goes  to  live 
at,  ii.  258,  277. 

Row,  Mr.  C.'s  appointment  to,  i.  10, 
15  ;  beginning  of  ministry  at,  i.  17- 
22  ;  first  communion  season  at,  i.  31  ; 
second,  i.  38  ;  last,  i.  70  ;  opposition 
to  teaching  at,  i.  49,  65  ;  character  of 
teaching  at,  i.  50,  62,  65,  66;  fare- 
well to,  i.  87,  90 ;  recollections  of 
ministry  at,  i.  253,  269,  336 ;  ii.  55, 
69,  159,  167,  204,  205. 

Ruskin,  John,  i.  223  ;  ii.  97,  205. 

Sabbath,  Dr.  Macleod's  speech  on  the, 
ii.  Ill,  113;  controversy  regarding, 
ii.  114,  117. 

Schleiermacher,  ii.  201. 

Science,  limits  of,  ii.  168,  170. 

Scott,  Mr.  A.  J.,  i.  42,  43,  47,  53,  56, 
57,  62  ;  letter  from  him  on  Dr.  Camp- 
liell's  death,  i.  171  ;  visits  to  him  at 
Woolwich,  i.  147,  160,  176  ;  his 
appointment  to  Owen's  College,  i. 
224 ;  he  lectures  in  Edinburgh,  i. 
225,  226;  Mr.  C.'s  estimate  of  him, 
i.  280  ;  his  death,  ii.  124 ;  other 
references  to,  ii.  118,  119,  158,  180, 
211. 

Scottish  Episcopal  Church,  ii.  157. 


INDEX. 


351 


Scripture,  Mr.  C.'s  manner  in  reading, 
ii.  I  ;  authority  of,  ii.  46  ;  difficulties 
in,  ii.  94;  "Spiritual  Criticism"  of, 
ii.  loi. 

Sermons  preached  at  Row,  i.  62,  65, 
336  ;  ii.  159,  166. 

Shairp,  Principal,  ii.  27,  58,  131,  173, 
210,  213,  263;  his  Culture  and  Re- 
ligion, ii.  292  ;  his  recollections  of 
Dr.  Campbell,  ii.  338. 

Shakespeare,  i.  4;  ii.  67,  129,  230. 

Skye,  first  visit  to,  i.  4  ;  preaching  tour 
in,  i.  %Z,  95-101  ;  last  visit  to,  i.  99. 

Spiritualism,  i.  291  ;  ii.  56. 

Stanley,  Dean,  ii.  49,  148,  223,  281. 

Stoiy,  Rev.  Robert,  friendship  with,  i. 

21  ;  letters  to,  i.  39,  41,  45,  56,  91  ; 

references  to,  i.  59,  60,  89,  156,  268 ; 

his  death,  i.  321  ;  recollections  of,  i. 

323- 
Story,  Rev.  R.   H.,  D.D.,  i.  21,  261, 

322 ;  ii.  5,  207,  325,  332,  334. 

Switzerland,  letters  to,  ii.  66-69. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  ii.  193. 

Temple,  Dr.,  his  Sermons,  ii.  15. 

Tennyson,  his  Idylls,  i.  323 ;  Enoch 
Arden,  ii.  68. 


Thomson,  Sir  William,  ii.  75,  176, 
207. 

Thoughts  on  Revelation,  publication  of, 
ii.  2,  17,  18. 

Tillotson,  Archbishop,  i.  2  ;  ii.  269. 

Tongues,  the  gift  of,  ii.  52 ;  at  Corinth, 
ii.  121 ;  at  Port-Glasgow,  ii.  121. 

Tulloch,  Principal,  i.  294,  297. 

Tyndall,  Professor,  ii.  140. 

Universalism,  ii.  5°)  3i8- 

Vaughan,  Dr.,  ii.  109,  145,  146,  147, 
212,  239. 

Vaughan,  Rev.  D.  J.,  first  visit  to,  i. 
335  ;  letter  from,  i.  338  ;  letters  from 
Mr.  C.  to,  i.  336;  ii.  31,  32,  65,  89, 
93,  137,  168,  194,  238,  250. 

Voysey,  Mr.,  ii.  293,  304. 

Williams,  Dr.,  Stephen's  defence  of,  ii. 

19- 
Wordsworth,  i.  146 ;  ii.  206,  259. 

Wylie,  Dr. ,  of  Carluke,  i.  32,  40,  70  ; 
ii.  68,  207,  209;  letters  to,  i.  321;  ii. 
95- 


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